Between Love and Revenge
by katerinaaqu
Summary: Seth McLeach is a fearless bounty hunter, tormented by a life of crimes along his cruel father, Giovanni. His main objective is to get his revenge against his father at all costs. However, when he is caught in an ambush by Giovanni's men, he is saved by Ishizu, a beautiful native american woman, who believes he is the White Warrior from her dream (Image by AnaPaulaDBZ)
1. The Bounty Hunter

The bounty hunter entered the saloon, his cold eyes examining the place. He walked towards the counter, where a blond man was serving drinks to his clients and took a seat. Without raising his eyes to the barman, he asked in a cold tone, putting the money on the counter.  
"A bottle of your best whisky."

The barman was wiping a glass to his apron when this newcomer had entered. He was annoyed a little bit by the attitude he showed but he didn't show a thing. After all in Far West those people were as common as the red grains of sand. He himself (despite his young age) had seen countless of those men.

"Right away, sir"  
He said politely and quit the glass he was mopping to check over the counter for a sealed bottle, since his client had ordered a bottle. When he found it, he grabbed it and unsealed it and placed it to the counter along with the glass with the ice in it.

"Here you go, sir."  
While doing this he had the time to observe the man. He was tall and well built with kind of dusty or dirty dark chestnut hair and icy cold eyes. His attire was usual for a man of his age around but the material was kind of old and had started to weather. It made the young barman wonder how he could afford an entire bottle of whiskey especially the good one but then again, with the recent commercial deals, booze was cheap like sand and water was more valuable than gold.  
The man's clothes were also dusty and the barman could guess he was riding a horse before coming in. His riding boots also proved that. He could see two sheaths to either side of his hips with pistols hanging there. His long coat was of a light violet color and had a matching hat.

The man took the bottle and poured some whiskey into his glass and took a sip, in silence. His icy cold eyes wandered around the place again, like an eagle searching for its prey. While he was drinking, he had the time to examine the saloon better. The place was noisy, full of drunk man and Can-can dancers. He _hated_ these kinds of places, but since it was a bustling saloon in the town, maybe he could hear something interesting from one of the people who attended this place. Maybe someone knew something about that scumbag Giovanni and his gang. He took another sip of his whiskey and finally raised his eyes to the barman in front of him. The blond haired man was staring at him, which was annoying to Seth, but he didn't minded, as long as he got important information from him. He leaned over the counter and said in a low tone, as if he didn't want the others to hear.

"I'm looking for a man. A wanted outlaw, in fact, by the name of Giovanni. Surely someone around this town must have heard of him. He's a despicable worm who committed a lot of crimes around these parts."

The barman seemed kind of stirring at the direct question but he rubbed his chin and played with his little, blonde moustache in a thought.

"Hmm...quite a lot outlaws come in and out this town. There is a bounty hunt in every corner I look at however recently no burglary or robbery was occurred in this town..."  
However he looked at his left, then to his right and leaned closer to speak in a low voice but still be heard over the mass sound of the piano and the talking of men around.

"Although recently a man came here. He was awfully drunk and dirty and his clothes were torn here and there. He sat to this counter and ordered for more booze. While he was drinking he said something terrible happened to him and then mentioned something about his house being taken and his wife being stolen but even in his awful state he wouldn't let anything more slip out. I haven't seen him ever since. It's been a week now..."  
He rubbed his moustache thoughtfully again.

"Some people said that the well-known criminal Bullet Bill was the one who did it with his gang but...I really do not believe that. As far as I know Bullet Bill is not interested in properties of people such as houses. I suspect it has to do with the so-called "Desert Mafia" even if we do not know the actual name of the organization, this name kind of came in handy for them since they work in a similar way..."  
The young barman sure liked to gossip from time to time but also because he had seen this man had something in mind. Either he was a bounty hunter or he wanted to join the gang but the first one seemed more possible, or else he would have asked him directly about a specific gang. For some reason he felt like trusting this guy with this much of information.

The bounty hunter let out a small smirk by this bit of information. It wasn't accurate, but maybe it could lead him where he wanted. He straightened his hat on his head, which allowed the barman to take a better look at the young gunslinger's face.

"It sounds like something he would do. Giovanni loves to mess up with families, as it seems."  
He looked at the barman again, his icy blue eyes revealing a little of his satisfaction. He took another sip of his whiskey and leaned over the counter again.

"You know, twenty five years ago he murdered a couple. The woman was his lover in the past, but she left him and married another man. She had a son, but not from her husband and Giovanni later found out. He wanted to take the boy for himself, so he killed the boy's stepfather. The mother fled with her son and gave him to a nun who was the owner of an orphanage. Unfortunately, she was also killed by that bastard. You see, this man loves to destroy other people's lives. You think he can be behind this?"  
Seth wasn't a man who trusted others, but if he wanted to chase down the man who destroyed his life, he would have to make a little effort. The barman seemed like a man whom loved to talk and gossip with his clients, so maybe he could get a little more information by giving some information he knew too, even if it was about himself, but surely, this man wouldn't suspect anything about who he was or what he was after, since there were a lot of mysterious men like him all over the West.

The young barman had indeed leaned closer without noticing. Of course he wasn't the top...gossip-guy of the neighbourhood but at least he really got interested in such kind of stories. After all many people came to the saloon, drank themselves to stupour and then told the barman everything that was bothering them as if the barman was a preacher to tell your sins to or something.  
The man here was different. He had anger in his voice and perhaps hidden sorrow (despite the fact he was trying really hard to conceal it) but still he wasn't talking only for the sake of it. He seemed really into a case he wanted to discover something from.

"Hmm..." the young barman rubbed his chin in thought, "I believe yes. I don't know the guys too well but I heard this is the way they work. When they find an area with someone in need, they lend him money but demand great things in return or pay for the guy's protection and when he cannot pay, they take what they believe they deserve themselves. Most likely our drunk fellow had a deal with them without knowing what deep waters he was swimming into."  
All the time he was looking straight into the unknown man's blue eyes. His story seemed really filled up to be just a rumor he heard somewhere not even if it was some personal business of some brother of his. Most likely he was the one directly involved to the case, something that concerned him personally. After all he could sense the feeling of revenge in his eyes.  
The young barman simply picked the previous glass up, mopped it and then took another one.

"We live in dark times no matter how you look at it. Imagine that there are so many outlaws outside that the Sheriff has put so many bounty hunts around. Demanding from citizens to do the job cause they do not have time or hands to do it themselves. But there are also people like the Mafia who do those things."  
He was speaking carefully. He knew that even walls had ears and that if he said something careless some Mafia wouldn't bother to...drop by the saloon and burn it to the ground.

The young gunslinger listened carefully to everything the barman just said, his icy blue eyes sparkling with a hidden satisfaction. That really sounded like something Giovanni and his gang would do, after all, he lived among them for most of his life and he knew very well the kind of scum they were. He felt he was in the right track, so he decided to continue his conversation with the barman. The man sure knew a lot of useful information he could use. He was right at trusting this man, after all.

"I see... Do you know anything about this drunk guy? Where can I find him? Perhaps he could tell me who did those terrible things to him."  
He was also being careful while he spoke, after all, he knew very well that Giovanni had some "ears" around that would love to ruin his plans.

"Hmm...I know not his name but..." rubs his chin in a thought, "Perhaps he mentioned once or twice his farm was somewhere outside this town. I think he called it "Wide Range" or something like that. Like I said he hasn't appeared since the day he came here. Perhaps he is to his farm for as long he has it that is. After the entire house was burned to the ground. If I had to guess, his house is East from here. I heard there were some fires there nowadays so if I had to take a bet...this would be where I would look for"

Seth finished his glass of whiskey and put the glass down. He lifted himself from his seat with a small smirk on his face.

"Well, thank you for the information. I will take my leave now."  
But then he leaned closer again and looked to his sides, to be certain that no one was listening to him.

"And, by the way, if anyone asks... You haven't seen me, understood? I am not a criminal, but I know very well how to be a bad guy to those who betray me."  
His eyes suddenly stared at the barman with a cold and threatening way. Despite his good conversation with the man, he wasn't willing to risk everything, so a small threat was necessary, just for precaution.

The young barman wasn't sure what to think of the guy. He already met enough drunk men that made empty threats that never intended to make into action but this man seemed at least capable of doing so. Despite the fact a drop of sweat ran down his back he showed a calm face.

"I understand sir. Everyone has his reasons to do what he does. After all I do not want my death sentence by some mafia if you do not mind!" he added humorously

The expression on the gunslinger's face softened a little, but he was still trying to maintain a posture of confidence and intimidation

"Good for you then. I would not want to have to get rid of you. Believe me, I do not like to dirty my hands with blood, except when it is absolutely necessary."  
He straightened his hat in his head and walked away from the saloon.

The young barman sighs a little and runs a hand through his blonde hair. Just another strange day to add to the list... He looks down the counter at the half-finished bottle of wiskey and the money next to it and then towards the door the man had left from

" _I didn't even get his name..."_  
He thinks with a small smile

* * *

 **Finally your waiting has come to an end! The very first chapter of "Between Love and Revenge" just arrived!**  
 **This is the amazing roleplay I do with** AnaPaulaDBZ **(Deviantart Account)**

 **Aaaand the roles are!:**

 **AnaPaulaDBZ as Seth**  
 **katerinaaqu as Ishizu**

 **and we share all the others!**  
 **Here we see the first introduction of our awesome roleplay!**

 _Seth McLeach_ **was** AnaPaulaDBZ  
 _Joseph Wilson_ **was** katerinaaqu

 _ **(Joseph Wilson = Joey Wheeler/ Jounouchi Katsuya)**_

 **Seth McLeach has barely started his adventure! What's gonna happen to him? Wait and see!**  
 **Just a small introduction cause it is too late here and I cannot tranfer more and also...I want to keep you all in agony!**

 **Anyway please comment me and please visit AnaPaula's page to check her AMAZING art.**

 **Please do not claim or steal this art/story/plot without OUR permission! Thank you**


	2. The Ambush

After leaving the saloon with all the information he got from the barman, he walked over to where his mare was tied and rode on it. He stroked the white mare's mane and whispered to her.

"Let's get going, Kisara. We have some business to finish."  
And following the tips given by the bartender, he rides towards East, looking for the drunk man's burned house. However he wasn't aware that a pair of eyes was watching him after he left...

The sun was moving slowly towards its setting, painting the sky with all the colors of red and orange, as if the sun was getting red and melting all over the sky. The white mare was slowly walking at her master's orders as her strong feet were walking steadily on the dusty ground. The sun was on their backs and it helped horse and rider find their way towards the east. The mare's white hair was also waving at the half-cool breeze that came over the desert after the scorching sun of the morning...  
The small duo seemed like one body at the large, black shadow both of them were casting by the sun that was on their backs. However even the most careful rider of all time would be enchanted by this magic, spread all over the red desert. So Seth letting the breeze cool him down a little and satisfied to get a lead for his new hunt of vengeance, he didn't notice the sound of a few horses away from him in the desert. Besides carriages and couches that carried goods and water or some rich bank clerk from city to city weren't unusual this late of hour...

After hours of riding towards the east, the rider finally spotted something in the distance that looked like remnants of what had once been a house. He reined the mare to slow down and cautiously approached the wreckage of the building, carefully examining every detail of it.

"It seems the barman was right, after all. There was, indeed, a house being burnt at this location. Maybe if I take a better look, I can still find some clues about who did this..."  
He dismounted from his mare and examined the ruins of the house. The burnt wood snapped under his feet as he walked through the remnants of the building. He bent down to look at something on the ground, when suddenly his mare whinnied. She was strangely agitated, which was a sign that something was wrong. The gunslinger drew the revolver and looked around, searching for whatever or whoever had scared his mare. He could feel that something was strange.

Suddenly from the ruins all around, five men dressed in black, with white scarves and black hats surrounded him.

"This is as far as you go, Seth McLeach!", one of them says in authoritative voice

Seth was tense. He held the gun cable firmly; fingers ready to pull the trigger. Anger filled his eyes as he stared at the men in front of him. Damn it, how could had he been so careless? A drop of sweat ran down his spine, however, the gunslinger haven't showed his nervousness towards the situation, instead, his face was of pure anger and hate.

"Oh, so now my father sent his men to do his dirty job? What a coward man he is! Why don't you go back and then him to face me in a duel? Is it because he is afraid to die by the hands of his own son?"

"Don't get cocky and arrogant my friend. Giovanni is busy to deal with the likes of you. We're representing him at the moment."  
As if on a queue the guns around him made the "click" sound of arming the bullet.

"We know you're legendary with your gun. We rode together many times in the past, after all, but not even the legendary Seth McLeach can take down all of us at the same time!"

Seth felt his blood freeze. He aimed his own gun, ready to shoot, even though he knew that this was probably his last moments alive.

"If I'm going to hell, you are all going with me."  
And then he pulled the trigger.

One of the men falls to the ground dead and at the same time his own hand by reflex pulls the trigger and fires in the air. The pure-white mere was now screeching hitting her strong feet to the ground and the horses that were stopped at a distance from the spot were doing the same.  
The men were starting to fire at will and the gunshots were following like a rain of steel while the dust was raised off the ground. The men were running around the burnt ruins to find cover behind a burnt piece of wood or a rock to keep on firing or reload their guns...  
One shot passed right next to the ear of the white mare, which stood to her back legs screeching loudly but also by worried-ness for her master. The brave horse rushed forward instead of running away and stepped over a man who screamed in pain, almost invisible under the cloud of dust it raised from the ground.  
The others ran to stop the strong horse. Suddenly the bullet coming from one of the Giovanni's men rushed in the air and got hit into Seth's right thigh.

The young gunslinger felt a searing pain spread along his right thigh, and he ducked behind a damaged wall. He tried to ignore the pain, but it was too intense and he wasn't able to concentrate straight in the battle.  
But then he heard the desperate neighing of his mare and stood up instinctively and shot in the direction of the men who were trying to stop his horse, hitting one of them on the leg. However, by exposing himself, he got hit again, but this time on his lower right torso and he fell backwards, feeling the intense pain spread through his body.  
Suddenly the sounds of gunfire and the neighing of his horse seemed to blend as his vision darkened and the pain overwhelmed him.

A little before he loses consciousness one of the men went above him with the gun barrel pointing at him.

"Giovanni sends his regards..." he says before shooting one last time at the same spot his previous bullet hit him in the torso and then the bounty hunter loses consciousness.

And with this, Giovanni's men move away, leaving behind the unconscious body of the young bounty hunter to be devoured by the coyotes. The white mare runs to her master's body and pokes him with her snout, in an attempt to reanimate him. When he doesn't reacted to her nuzzle, the animal whinnied desperately. The whinny of the horse echoed through the desert, like a mournful cry.

The horse neighs made the bounty hunter regain part of his consciousness. He got up with difficulty, grabbing the mare's saddle, and, using the last of his strength, he rode the animal towards the nearest city to find help. However, because of the severity of his injuries, he couldn't make it and he lost consciousness again, falling from his horse into the dusty ground.  
The white mare stopped when she no longer felt her master's weight on her back and came back for him, standing by his side. She let out another desperate whinny and poked his body with her snout again, in another attempt to wake him up, but again, her master didn't responded to her nuzzle. The strong animal stood on her back legs and whinnied desperately, as if she was trying to call out for help.

And the desert seemed never-ending...

* * *

 **Yup! Like you guys asked for! Here's the next chapter of my roleplay with** AnaPaulaDBZ **(Deviantart)**

 **The second part is quite obvious here! Now what's going to happen to Seth McLeach? What is about to happen to him in general (not only in body but also in soul? Wait and see**

 _Seth McLeach_ AnaPaulaDBZ  
 _Desert Mafia members_ Me

 **Please write your comments below to tell us your opinion and visit AnaPaulaDBZ's page to check her art regarding this story!**  
 **Thank you in advance!**

 **Please do not claim or steal this art/story/plot without OUR permission! Thank you**


	3. The Mysterious Savior

Many meters away from the spot there was the sound of another horse riding. It was a dark brown, almost black, horse, with a small painted pattern in purple color on its shoulder. The dark stallion had long grayish hair and strong legs and equally long tail. His master hadn't put a sadder on him and so the strong stallion was moving freely. He didn't even have reins, just a hand-made cloth on his back.  
His rider was a woman; A young woman with long, raven hair and deep blue eyes. She was dressed in leather clothes of Native Americans. Her skin had a soft caramel color and her cheeks had painted two small white lines on them. Feathers were flowing on her hair while she was also wearing matching boots with her dress and hand-made jewelry and amulets hanged from her neck, belt and also were around her arms. The woman had a small sack around her shoulder and seemed to be enjoying her ride.

"Wooo! Mahaado!" she pulled he stallion's hair softly as she spoke in her language and stopped the horse.

She placed her hand over her forehead so she could see around at the dying sun's light. It was a usual stroll for her but some deeper feeling had brought her this way to gather herbs and water. A dream had told her to come here. The girl was a shaman after all...  
She looked around and then hit the horse with her feet to make it run again. Suddenly her eyes caught the bright white color of a horse. She forced her own stallion to move faster and found herself next to a scene really touching. It was a beautiful white mere, sat on the ground, next to an unconscious and bleeding man. The girl gasped and jumped off her horse gracefully before running to check the man. The mere seemed a bit suspicious at the newcomer but the sight of the black stallion was enough to calm her. She stood up at her strong legs.  
The young shaman ran to the man to the ground and turned him around (for he was face-down on the ground). She saw his chest moving up and down. Thank to all good Spirits! He was alive; Alive but bleeding badly and burning in fever. She didn't have time to lose. She brought her fingers to her lips and whistled to her horse to come closer while she was doing her best to hold him up...

* * *

The next morning, the wounded gunslinger woke up. He felt a strong pain on his lower right torso when he tried to move. He blinked a few times, his vision still trying to adjust to the darkness of the cave around him. His head was pounding and he was still feeling a little dizzy. The young man slowly put a hand on his head and tried to sit once again, but with great difficulty, since the pain was too strong and it was almost impossible to ignore.  
 _"Damn... Is it how it feels like to be dead? It's worse than I thought."_ He thought to himself as he got up.

A cool breeze coming from the outside of the cave brushed against his skin and made him shiver. He looked down and saw that he was shirtless and his body was wrapped in bandages, which made him even more confused.  
"What the hell...?"  
The last thing he remembered was being shot by one of Giovanni's men and left to die alone in the middle of the desert. He knew he was alive, because even breathing was painful, and as long as he knew, the dead don't feel pain, or even need to breathe, even though it hurts. And the dead couldn't feel cold breezes too.  
He looked around again (this time his vision was adapted to the darkness of the cave) and he saw a small stove next to him. Someone else was supposed to be there. Someone else rescued him and just the thought of that made him confused. Why on Earth would anyone had the trouble to rescue a dying man in the middle of the desert? Well, whoever it was, he needed to show his thankfulness, at least. But he was still confused about his stranger "savior". Why had this person put him on a cave, in the first place and not in a more safe house? What kind of person rescued him? There were a lot of questions on his head, but then again, the pain hit him once more, disrupting his thoughts.

The sound of light footsteps probably would get his attention and the small woman appeared to the cave's entrance. She seemed half-surprised and half-relieved to see he was awake. She was carrying a small bag with herbs in it and something wrapped in a hand-made piece of cloth to the other. Her raven-black hair was falling freely. It was striking obvious the girl was Native American. She smiled softly to him.

"I see you're awake. Thank all good Spirits!" she said honestly, however he had spoken to her own language (obviously) a dialect probably completely unknown to the young, wounded, not to mention confused bounty hunter.

Seth was startled by the presence of the young woman. Instinctively, he retreated a little, blood rushing to his cheeks as he tried to cover his naked chest with the hand-made blanket that was over his legs. For a moment, he just stared at her, speechless. The woman was beautiful and her eyes reflected her worry towards him. She must have been the one who rescued him, he assumed. The bounty hunter felt his heart race. He was still startled, even though he knew by the look in her face that this woman meant no harm to him, but it was still embarrassing to be half-naked in the presence of a beautiful woman like her. A sudden curiosity took over him and he tried to ignore his embarrassment. Seth had known a few Native Americans on his travels, some of them joined outlaws gangs to gain the life, and they knew how to speak English, even though some of them had a little trouble with the language. He wished that this girl was one of these few Native Americans who could speak a little of English. He swallowed a lump on his throat and, despite his nervousness towards the young woman, he tried to speak to her.

"W-who... who are you?" he said, staring deeply at the girl's eyes

The young girl would be a liar, if she said that she wasn't charmed by her pale companion. He had a tall body and well shaped with lighter characteristics than most of her people in her village. If she wasn't so busy to help him, for sure this man would have sent her many shivers down her spine. Now that he had opened his eyes, she saw that they had a wonderful icy-cold blue color like clear sky. She had never seen eyes like that in her village. Her own eyes were rare for her tribe but they were dark blue, dark that in the night they seemed black.  
She heard the man speaking. She couldn't understand his language. Her village was an isolated one and they hardly ever saw the Pale People from so up-close but the look in his eyes, the fact that he was looking at her and also the simplicity of the words made her understand and also more of her instinct to introduce herself to the unknown man. She brought her caramel-colored hand to her chest and patted it a couple of times.

"Ishizu..." she said in a small yet clear voice and gave the stranger to her a small smile

The young man seemed to calm down a little, however, her sweet smile towards him made his heart race again and he could feel his cheeks burning, but he tried to ignore it. Of course his body wasn't functioning properly after being shot and left to die. He assumed the girl could understand him, since she answered his question, so he pointed a thumb to his own chest and introduced himself.

"Seth. You can call me Seth."

"Seth..." she replied letting the name run on her tongue, or probably get used to its strange (to her) sound of it.

"Seth" she said again nodding her head, "Seth"

The young gunslinger raised an eyebrow, confused. Then he let out a small sigh.

"Yeah... Huh... That's my name."  
He stared at her for a while, curiosity taking over him. This woman seemed to be very different from the other Native Americans he knew. He was curious about her. He wanted to know why she had the trouble to save a white man like him in the middle of the desert. She didn't know anything about him, and yet she rescued him. Normally, native Americans were wary about white people, so why would a beautiful woman like her want to rescue a white man, who could easily be a criminal, or even worse, a man who could "use" her because of her beauty? Luckily, he wasn't this kind of man, but she didn't know that. So why did she choose to take the risk? He stared deeply at her eyes again and spoke slowly and carefully.

"Why did you save me?"

He gestured with his hands, hoping the girl would understand better his question.

The young woman blinked a little and took a second to comprehend the question. Once more she used logic to figure out that the tone of a man belonged to a question. The usual question she would ask if she was in his shoes would be "why" Therefore she kneeled before him, her eyes always stuck in his and told him something in her language.  
Seeing the question deeply in the man's eyes, she decided to do it in signals. She pointed at the fire and then to her arm.

Again, the bounty hunter raised an eyebrow in confusion. It took him a moment to understand that this woman couldn't understand him like he had thought earlier.  
 _"Great. Just great. She doesn't understand a single word I say."_  
The young man sighed deeply, clearly a little disappointed. He was thinking about what he would do next. He decided to try again, this time, speaking to her with through signals.

"Why?"  
He asked again and then he pointed at her and said.

"You"  
He pointed at himself again. He gestured towards the bandages around his body and them to himself, trying to say, "helped me" in signals. He looked at her again, hoping she could understand him this time.

The girl once more pointed at the fire and then at her arm, but this time she pinched her skin. Fire and skin...fire in skin. She meant fever. She then pointed at him.

"Fever...?"  
Seth took a moment to understand what she was trying to say, but it didn't answered his question. He sighed again as he was trying to think about his next step.

 _"Fever. So, apparently, I was having a fever. But this doesn't make sense! Maybe she didn't understood what I meant. How am I going to ask her more clearly, damn it?"_  
He tried to communicate with her again. He showed five fingers and pointed at himself, trying to say "five men". He made the signal of a gun with his hand and then he tried to imitate the sound of a shot. He touched his wounded side to show her where he was shot. Then he asked again "why" and pointed at her and then at himself.

The girl kind of understood but she knew it was difficult to explain. So she pointed outside the cave. Close to Seth were the saddle and the reins of his mere. Outside the pure-white mere was drinking water from a small riverbank and by her there was an amazing dark stallion with purple drawn patterns to his shoulder and backside. Both horses seemed well fed and well taken care of (obviously Ishizu had taken care of them) and they also seemed to be getting along well.  
The Native American woman pointed at the black stallion more accurately once more. From what Seth had told her and from the signals he had done he managed to make out some words, the word "men" and "death" but also she managed to get the word "trust" when Seth asked her why she trusted him to save him.  
She looked again deeply in his eyes, with her dark blue ones looking at him seriously but at the same time the light of life was all over her face.

"He trusts...I trust..." She managed to say to his language, not sure if she got the White Man's grammar correctly.

It was the best answer she could give him...for now that is.

* * *

Seth listened carefully to the girl's words. By the tone she used, it seemed that she was trying really hard to speak to his language, but he understood what she meant to say. What he doesn't understand, however, was why she would trust him just because her horse trusted him. He knew that Native Americans were very superstitious people, but he felt there was more behind her motivation to save him. He could see it clearly by the look in her eyes: there was something more, but it was too complicated for her to explain, so that was the more simple answer she could give him at the moment. He could see how hard she was trying to communicate with him, even trying to speak in his language, even thought she didn't knew it. The bounty hunter sighed again. He decided he wouldn't push the subject further, at least for now, since he didn't wanted the poor girl to get confused. But then, he began to feel dizzy again. He felt his stomach rumbling. Of course, due to his blood loss, he was feeling weak and he needed to eat something. Looking at her again, he pointed to his stomach and then to his mouth and said the word "hungry".

A smile spread over her face and she knelt down before him opening the small cloth she had taken with her. Inside was a loaf of yellow bread, made of corn, a big piece of cheese and some berries.

"Hungry" she repeated as an answer pushing it to him softly, "Hungry"

The young man felt blood rushing to his cheeks again. The way she smiled softly to him and repeated his word was kind of... cute. He instantly shook the thought from his head. Damn, what the hell was wrong with him? It seemed his mind wasn't working properly. Maybe it was because he was hungry and weak. He took the food on his hands and started to eat, hoping the food would help him to get better.

However the little Indian girl that introduced herself as Ishizu, leaned her head to the side with interest, curiosity and a hint of worry. She knelt close to him and on her knees approached him and touched her hand to his forehead to check his temperature, interpreting the color to his cheeks as fever coming back.

Seth stopped eating when the girl leaned closer and touched his forehead. He felt his heart race with her touch and his face going even redder. By instinct, he moved away from her, looking at the Indian girl with a surprised expression.

"What are you doing?"  
The words slipped out from his mouth, even thought he knew she wouldn't understand his question. He could feel his face burning and his heart beating loud and then he felt a sudden anger at himself for acting as a fool. What was wrong with his body, anyway?

The girl blinked a little and then pointed at the fire and pinched her skin like before but this time there was a question in her eyes. Like asking him if he was feeling fever coming back.

He shook his head.

"No. No fever, just hungry."  
He tapped his stomach and then he repeated the gesture, to make sure she would understand.

"Just hungry.  
He looked at her again; hoping the blush on his face had disappeared. Well, at least she was worried about him and didn't ask why he was blushing. That would be even more embarrassing, but he hoped he wouldn't blush again. Why would he, a fearless bounty hunter, blush like a shy teenager in front of a woman? It was irritating. Obviously his body wasn't functioning properly.

The girl sighed in relief and started talking to her language but at the same time she made gestures to make him understand. She made a move like dragging with her hands and carrying on her shoulder and pointed to the place where he lay right now. She pretending opening her dress as if telling how she opened his shirt to examine his wounds  
She then took out of her belt a beautiful knife that had a handle made of horn (perhaps the horn of a deer). She pointed at the fire and then to the blade. She had purified the blade with fire. Then pointed the point of her knife to her arm pretending pushing the knife in and up to show how she got the bullets out of his body.  
She then pointed at a small bowl close to him that appeared to have hosted some liquid inside it. She raised it to her lips pretending drinking and then pointed at him, like saying she gave this to him to drink.  
All in all between her language and the signals she was telling him the way she took care of him.

The young gunslinger watched with attention every gesture the girl made. It was impressive how she was able to do all of this alone without having any medical degree, only her tribe's knowledge. He then touched slightly the bandages around his body. If it weren't for this girl, he would be lying dead by now, with his body serving as a meal for vultures and coyotes. He looked deeply into the girl' deep blue eyes and said quietly, almost as a whisper.

"Thank you."  
He showed his gratitude, even thought he didn't knew if she would understand.

She understood it...his gesture for of gratefulness. She smiled and nodded her head.

"Thank you"  
She "answered" him.

"Thank you" nodded her head again

A small smile appeared on the bounty hunter's face, an idea suddenly appearing on his mind. Maybe he could teach her a little of his language.

"When I say "Thank you", you have to say, "You're welcome"."  
He repeated the words slowly for her to understand.

"You're welcome..." she repeated to get used to the sound but when she says it a smile spreads to her face.

"You're welcome...?"

Seth smiled and nodded his head with approval.

"Yes, that's it." He said, looking at her.

She smiled again. She couldn't believe it that she learnt a few words in White Man's language. This probably was going to get things easier for them to talk. She looked at him and then at the half finished food of his.

"Hungry" she said as if to encourage him to finish his food

He looked at the half-finished food he left.

"Oh, right. Thank you again, for the food, I mean."  
And then he took the food and ate it. His dizziness had passed, which meant he was feeling better now, but when he tried to move again, pain stroke him in the side the bullets had hit his body.

She had knelt beside him at the same time he tried to stand up holding his shoulders and shaking her head negatively.

"No." she said to his language, from a word she caught when he spoke before, "No."

He straightened his body and looked at her again. He was surprised at how fast she was learning to speak some words in his language. The young man looked at the bandages around his body and sighed.

"Guess I'm not _that_ good yet." He said, more to himself than to the girl, sounding a little disappointed.

The woman smiled in relief and slightly pushed him down, back on his lying position. She then...started unwrapping the bandages!

Seth raised his head to look and then he felt it again, his heart racing and his cheeks going red once again, for his displeasure. He tried to keep his thoughts in order.

 _"Damn... She's just taking care of my wounds, I shouldn't be so nervous like this, right?"_  
But instinctively, he moved a little.

"No..." she repeated calmly.

She opened her small sack to get out a small bottle. She opened it and inside she had a cream made of herbs. She applied them to the bullet wounds as carefully as possible. She then got out a new set of bandages and started wrapping them around the wounds again. The problem was that in order to wrap the bandages around his torso she has to..."hug" him.

When the girl wrapped her arms against him in order to wrap the new set of bandages around his torso, he flinched. His heart was beating so loud he was afraid she could hear it. It was a very embarrassing situation to him and because of his nervousness, he couldn't stop moving, making the girl's work even harder.

She tied the bandage carefully and put him back down softly.

When the girl finished to tie the bandage, he sat again, staring at the cave floor, lost in his thoughts. It was hard for him to deal with this situation. He knew that she was only taking care of his wounds, so he couldn't understand _why_ he was feeling so nervous like this. He didn't like this feeling, to feel vulnerable, but he couldn't help it. What was wrong with him, anyway? He wasn't supposed to feel like this, he was a bounty hunter raised among cruel men. He didn't felt nervous even when some saloon girls flirted with him, (and he even flirted back sometimes, even though he never really liked vulgar women) so why was he nervous now? Maybe it was because he was still feeling weak and he didn't like it. He started to think now about how foolish and careless he was for being caught so easily by Giovanni's gang. The only thing he could think now was to get revenge, this time not only against Giovanni, but with his whole gang. He wanted to see the look on their faces when they see he was alive. He wanted to see the terror in their eyes before they die. He even smirked at the thought. He would give them what they deserved.

The girl smiled to him and opened her small sack again. She got out a small sack made of animal skin full with water. She shook it a little to show him it is liquid and made a move like drinking and showed him, like asking him if he wanted water.

Seth snapped out of his thought at the sound of the water shaking inside the small sack. He felt his throat dry. He watched the girl's gestures and nodded, in confirmation.

"Yes, please."

He reached out for the sack.

She removed the plug for him and handed him the small sack.

He took the bag with both hands and brought it to his lips, drinking the water it contained. He drank to the last drop. When he finished, he extended the empty sack to her.

"Thank you again."

She smiled at him watching him drink so greedily. She took the sack back.

"You're...welcome..." she said a bit hesitatingly as if asking him if she said that right

He nodded his head with approval once more.

"Yes, that's how you say it."  
And then he yawned. After being well fed and his had his wounds taken care of, a rest would be great to fully restore his energies. He blinked slowly, his eyes showing his exhaustion.

"Tired." He said to the girl, teaching her another word.

She hangs her head to the side and then points at him.

"Tired?  
Practically asking if he's referring to himself as such. She smiled though; A smile that probably would belong to a mother that was looking at her child tenderly. She went close to him and softly pushed him down, fixing the piece of cloth under his head to help him lie down. She then pulled the blanket over him till his chest tenderly, hoping deep inside that he was comfortable.

When the girl asked him if he was referring to himself, he nodded in affirmation. And when she approached him, he felt a weird sensation on his chest, like something was warming up inside him and he could also feel his heart racing again, for his displeasure. It was irritating how this girl was messing up with his emotions, but he was too tired to protest. For now, he just wanted a good sleep to recover his energies. Maybe when he wakes up next morning all of these strange sensations would be gone. So he let the girl help him to lie down and closed his eyes, hoping he would wake up better in the next morning.

* * *

The young woman watched him close his eyes and soon understood he was sleeping. She smiled seeing how calm he seemed now. She remembered the night she found him burning in fever and he had to remove the bullets from his body with a hot knife, he didn't sleep so soundly. He was constantly sighing and moaning and mumbling things in his fever, through his dry, flaming lips.  
But now she was calm. The girl found herself feeling her heart raise a bit a little. He sure was handsome. Taller than most of people in her tribe. His skin had the most unusual color. She could even see the color of his veins through the skin of his wrist. Of course she knew he was one of the White people but still...  
Her eye fell on the saddle she had removed from the horse when she brought them two towards the cave. She couldn't get it. Why someone put something so heavy at the back of a horse? She herself felt her strength not enough to carry this thing. It took her a couple of minutes (and a moment of rest) to drag the heavy object in the cave and she was strong for her size age and gender.  
She approached the object and caressed the material. It was smooth to touch but at the same time seemed hard and uncomfortable to her...but still it was beautiful. She saw a small package to the saddle.  
So that was another reason this was for! To pack in some things needed for a trip so he wouldn't need a sack. Yes, that seemed understandable. Curiosity beat her and opened it. Inside she saw a new set of bullets (obviously from the two guns that hanged from the belt she took off the night she examined his wounds (she had placed the guns close to the saddle).  
As she moved on she also found an old flask for alcohol (or water) that seemed empty now, and an old photo. She knew what those things were for. They would "take a picture" of a person standing before a box. Many of her people were afraid of it though. They believed that their souls would be captured in the paper. Weren't White People afraid for their souls? Maybe not...or maybe this old tradition wasn't true for her people.  
Ishizu was a skeptical woman and she would embrace everything new despite the fact she was raised with the traditions of her ancestors. The photo had a few people unknown to her and a boy among them resembled her White Man greatly. Perhaps it was him after all! She then saw another pack of bullets and a small, very small, leather dressed book. One other thing he had was a small harmonica. She had heard about this kind of instrument but never seen one up-close. She wondered how it sounded...how it would be heard if he played it... She didn't blow in it afraid to wake him...  
She looked at the few possessions the man had with him and then at the man himself. She smiled seeing him still sleeping soundly. She placed the objects back to their right place and placed the small sack back to the saddle. She then went to put more firewood at the fire...

And the next morning came...

* * *

 **Ta-Da!**

 **Like I promised I tried to make it fast and post the next chapter (especially since we had so many great comments)**  
 **So as the title says this is the part where Seth was saved! He was saved by a Native American girl.**  
 **And FINALLY we got to the main roles of this roleplay! Seth and Ishizu!**

 **Honestly guys while I did the roleplay with** AnaPaulaDBZ **(DA) it was like the cuttest thing ever! It was really fun to try**  
 **and picture two people from completely different worlds that don't even speak the same language to come closer!**  
 **Yeah Seth is a..."casanova" but still he finds himself weak before Ishizu with feelings he never imagined he would**  
 **have ever in his life! , Ishizu on the other hand finds herself for the first time actually face to face with a "White Man"**  
 **and her curious spirit wants to know more about it. She also discovers she has a talent with languages since she manages**  
 **to catch a few words of his language so fast!**  
 **As you can all possibly imagine the interaction between those two is gonna be interesting and...problematic at the same time!**

 **Inspirations from "Pocahontas" are quite obvious to this one and you'll see more of those two!**

 _Seth McLeach_ AnaPaulaDBZ

 _Ishizu_ katerinaaqu (me)

 **Please comment this chapter and give us a piece of your mind no matter what it is and please visit** AnaPaulaDBZ **'s gallery to check her fanart for this roleplay! Believe me you won't regret it!**

 **Please do not claim or steal this art/story/plot without OUR permission! Thank you**


	4. The Native American girl, Ishizu

_Seth was pointing a gun at a man. The man was tall and had a grayish hair and beard. His eyes stared at the young gunslinger with irony, as if he was finding it funny. Seth hold the gun firmly, still pointing at him._

" _So you came back, my son." The man said with a ironic tone, his lips curved into a sly smile._

" _I'm_ _ **not**_ _your son! I never was!" Seth replied in a harsh tone, his anger rising inside him._

" _I_ _ **raised**_ _you! I taught you how to hunt, how to shoot, how to..."_

" _ **SHUT UP!**_ _You never treated me like a son, you raised me as one of your gang members, you raised me to become a bastard like you, but I will_ _ **never**_ _, never be like you!"_

 _Seth hardened his grip on the gun. His hands were shaking and his eyes were reflecting pure hatred towards the man that was in front of him. The man, however, didn't seem intimidated by the look on the gunslinger's face._

" _Go on, then. Shoot me. I doubt you have the courage to shoot your own father."_

 _Seth smirked._

" _So you don't know me well enough, old man."_

 _But as he was ready to pull the trigger, he heard a shot from behind him and his vision darkened. The last thing he saw was the old man, laughing hard._

" _Good bye, my son!"_

* * *

The young man woke up, startled. He looked around him and he saw that he was in the same cave he was yesterday instead of spending the night in a camp in the middle of the desert, like he would usually do. So he wasn't just dreaming, after all. He really was shot by Giovanni's men and rescued by a strange Indian girl who didn't seemed to be afraid of him. He looked around again and the girl was nowhere to be seen. He sighed in relief. He really needed some time alone. At least, he was feeling better than last morning, but he was still annoyed. He was annoyed at himself for being so foolish as to let himself be shot and he was still feeling foolish for acting as a shy teenager in front of the Indian girl yesterday, but he shook the thought from his head. He was feeling better now. And more confident too. Now he remembered who he was: he was Seth McLeach, the fearless bounty hunter, and he wasn't going to let himself be affected by that girl again.  
He tried to stand up, but pain hit him. He tried to ignore the pain, however. He didn't want to be sitting in a cave all day. He leaned on the cave walls and limped to the outside. The sunlight blinded him for a few seconds. When his vision was adapted to the sunlight, he whistled and the beautiful white mare appeared. She seemed happy to see her master was fine. She nuzzled against him and Seth used his free hand (for he was still leaning against the cave wall) to caress her snout. However, the mare accidentally rubbed her snout against his wounded side, which made the pain go worse, and Seth lost his balance and fell face-down on the floor. He tried to stand up again, but he couldn't move. The pain was too intense.

"DAMN IT!" he cursed, in frustration, and the mare whinnied in concern for her master

The mere was sniffing into his brown hair, occasionally using her "lips" to stir his hair a little, as if trying to tell him everything was all right. Suddenly the sound of a horse approaching was heard and the beautiful woman from before arrived at the scene. She was riding her strong, almost-black stallion with the purple patterns drawn on it. She didn't use a saddle; just a hand-made carpet-like cloth and she didn't have reins. She practically held herself from her stallion's long, black hair. She had a sack to her shoulder, like the one she had before. She came a halt with her horse close to him and her eyes were widened with surprise and also with worry, obviously for seeing him there out of the cave.  
From up-close, especially on her black stallion she seemed less vulnerable. Someone would say she looked like a tanned Amazoness warrior, especially since she had her small knife tied at her boot. She seemed to be a great rider, especially since she didn't use a saddle and reins.

When he hard the sound of horse hooves approaching, he looked up to see the beautiful Indian girl mounted on her black stallion. He cursed himself again. It was humiliating to be seen by the girl with him in that situation. Even though he didn't liked to admit, he needed her help because he was unable to move. He grunted in frustration.

The girl seemed scared for him (and not OF him). She jumped off her horse and ran to his side to help him stand.

"Why?" she said to his language -with only a slight sound of singing-like accent-

"Why out? No. No"  
She said helping him stand, like saying he shouldn't have done it.

He stood up with the girl's help, but he was feeling _so_ humiliated. He felt an immense anger at himself again. It was embarrassing enough to be in that situation and it was even more humiliating to be scolded by that girl. He grunted again, and with her help, he managed to get back to the cave.

She could feel his discomfort, or at least...his annoyance. She knew men. Men in her village, especially the warriors, felt humiliated to get help at times of pain. Her people believed that pain makes them stronger. However females helped anyway, and she knew that when a warrior was wounded, he went straight to the healer to get better to get to another battle. So...why wouldn't he let her help him?  
Was she doing something wrong? White Men healed in a different way than her people? Ishizu didn't know. She helped him sit back to the blanket. She smiled to him, hoping this would make him feel better. It was a disarming smile indeed

"Hungry?" she asked showing her bag.

She got out some bread and corns and a flask of water. She also had with her meat, freshly baked. Even the bread was still warm as if just baked.

Seth looked at the young woman with annoyance. Sure he was grateful for her saving his life and all, but he was still annoyed. He remembered how foolish he must have been looking yesterday, acting as a foolish shy teenager, so he wasn't going to let that happen again. It was also for his male pride, he didn't wanted to look weak, especially in front of a woman. So he looked back at her and her smile almost managed to tear down the walls that he was carefully trying to rebuild around his inner self, but his annoyance and irritation tried to block away any kind of foolish sensations and thoughts. His body, however, wasn't listening to him and he could still feel his heart racing a bit, which made him feel even more annoyed. He grunted again and when she asked if he was hungry, he looked at the food and nodded, in affirmation.

"Yes."

But he replied in a cold tone. He wanted her to know that he was feeling irritated. Maybe this could help him to not feel so foolish near her again.

The woman titled her head to the side a bit curious about the change of attitude. What happened? Had she done something wrong? Didn't he like the breakfast or his wounds started to hurt again? But the night before when she checked them, she had seen that his wounds were getting better and better.  
Luckily they weren't infected or anything worse so she didn't need to cut off his flesh or anything. Moreover the bleeding stopped easily after removing the bullets with the hot knife so she didn't need to burn the wounds with hot metal to stop massive bleeding. So why was he hostile towards her all of the sudden?  
However a smile appeared to her lips. Yes she remembered that look. She remembered her family. Her brother. He would always pout every time their mother would try to help him with his wounds. Perhaps it was embarrassment. She smiled again and cut the loaf of bread in half with her hands.  
The sweet scent of freshly baked bread got freed in the small cave, inviting. Then the girl took out the wrapped in cloth, roasted meat. It appeared being meat from a deer or perhaps a boar. It was crispy and had all its fat on it. She placed the half piece of meat upon the one half of bread and extended it to him, smiling always.

The scent of the food made Seth's stomach rumble. The food seemed delicious and, for a moment, hunger spoke louder than his arrogance and he left it aside for a while. He took the bread and the meat and started eating.  
The food tasted delicious. He couldn't even remember the last time he tasted something so delicious. He, himself, was a terrible cook. In fact, none of Giovanni's men were good cooks. He guessed it was a men's thing to be bad cooks.  
He ate the food with voracity, and after he finished, he decided to be at least polite, after all, she gave him something really delicious to eat and he didn't want her to stop bringing him this kind of food for thinking that he didn't liked it.

"Good. The food was good." He said, expressing his satisfaction with his meal.

He repeated for her to understand and then he thanked her.

Ishizu smiled more seeing him not only taking the bread and meat she had prepared for him but also took the rest half of it and ate it almost gluttonously. She could sense how long he had passed since he had a good meal and the simple bread she had brought him the night before didn't count. She saw him almost finishing up the entire flask of water, almost without taking a breath. For some reason the scene of her watching him eat resembled her a husband after the morning hunt in her village that comes home to eat some food. She felt her cheeks getting warm at the thought.  
It was also nice to see him like her bread so much. She was the healer and the shaman of her village but still she was a woman and she had learnt how to make flour and bread. She had returned at her village the night before and she was preparing the bread dough so in the morning she baked it by the fire while eating her simple breakfast, she then took some freshly roasted deer meat she had for her breakfast and came back to the cave as fast as she could. Seeing him enjoying it was something that made her happy.  
She heard his voice praising her. She could tell he was praising her by the suddenly warm tone of his voice. He was praising her while still the fat and the oils of the meat were on his fingers. She was smiling once more and nodded her head gratefully

"Good"

She said as an "answer"

"Good...Th-Thank you." She remembered the other word he had taught her.

It seemed strange she was speaking into the white man's language but at the same time she liked it. She took out a small rug and came closer...she wiped a little the corners of his mouth and started wiping his hands, as if she truly was his wife, taking care of her hurt husband...

When she came closer, Seth froze. He could feel his heart beating fast and his cheeks burning.  
 _"Oh, no, not this again!"_ He thought.

Suddenly anger took over him; Anger of himself and anger of these foolish sensations. He would not let these stupid sensations take over him again. He wasn't a stupid teenager anymore, he was a fearless bounty hunter, a cold, rude man raised among outlaws, he hated feeling vulnerable and he wouldn't let this woman affect him. He needed to defend his own dignity and defend himself from any kind of weird emotions. So he pulled his hands and moved away from her.

"Stop!"

He snarled at her, like an angry wolf trying to defend its territory.

"I don't need your pity. I can take care of myself." He said, even though he knew she wouldn't really understand the words he had just said. But he hoped that, at least, she would leave him alone for now.

She was shocked for a second and immediately drew back. For a second an image of her being a baby with her older brother by her side came to her mind. "Never trust white men" he used to say, "They are violent and they do not appreciate anything! They only know to destroy! They only destroy each other without even having respect of their opponent!"  
For sure the fear passed her for a barely noticeable second from her mind, but she wasn't a little girl anymore! However her eyes filled with tears she held back with all her strength so they wouldn't fall. What was with him anyway? She had helped him, she had treated him, she had taken care of his wounds... She left her village many times for his sake and she spent half of the night before to make him breakfast and why now was he acting this way?  
Of course she couldn't understand what he had said, but she could tell by the lack of warmth in his voice, by the tone he used. He was angry and for no good reason, according to her. The sadness turned to anger. She stood up without saying anything and let the piece of cloth down, She then walked to the entrance of the cave and left, barely looking over her shoulder one last time.

Seth watched as she left the cave. He was supposed to be relieved that she left him alone, but instead, he was feeling weird. He felt as if something was tightening his chest. The look on the girl's eyes, the way she seemed like she wanted to cry made his chest tighten even more. Was it... guilt? He shook the thought from his head. Of course it wasn't. Why would he feel guilty? He had yelled at people many times in his life. He was a lone wolf. He never needed anyone. The only people in his life that he had felt affection was sister Anna, the nun from the orphanage who was like a mother to him. But she was dead now, thanks to that bastard, Giovanni, who killed her when she tried to stop him from taking Seth from the orphanage. She was the only person he had ever loved, and yet, she was taken away from him, like the mother he never met. So why was him feeling so bad?  
Suddenly, his eyes filled with tears, but he refused to cry. Instead, he felt anger, but he didn't know what for. Was it anger at himself? Or at the girl? It didn't matter anyway. He lied down in the cave floor and closed his eyes, being tormented by his own thoughts.

And the hours passed but the girl never showed up again. And noon came...

* * *

The silence was annoying him. He couldn't even take a nap. He was still feeling that annoying weigh on his chest. Finally, he rose. He looked at the cave entrance, but there was no sign of the girl and this was starting to worry him. What if she wouldn't come back? He couldn't remain in that cave on his state. He cursed himself. Maybe he didn't need to yell at her, just move away from her would be enough. He looked at the things she had left behind, at the extinct fire pit she had lit, and he thought about the food she had brought him. He looked down at his own body and saw the bandages she wrapped around his wounds. She had the trouble to rescue him, bring him food and take care of him. She didn't seem to care that he was a White Man, somehow she trusted him enough to save him and that was still something that troubled Seth. There **was** a bigger reason for her to save him, he could feel it. But now he wasn't sure if that reason would be strong enough for her to come back, even after he yelled at her. Seth sighed in frustration. Beside his saddle, were his clothes and on top of them, there was the small crucifix that sister Anna gave him, a long time ago. He took the crucifix on his hands and looked at it.

"Are you testing me somehow? Is this some kind of punishment? What do you want from me, God?"  
He pressed the crucifix on his hands firmly as he "prayed".

The small sound of distant laughter and the well-known sound of horse-petals to the ground could be heard and then he saw her... The Indian woman was there, running around, laughing while her dark stallion was running around her whining happily. They seemed like a couple in love that was playing. She was around 10 dozens of feet away from him. She was hugging her horse's nose laughing or even talking to him in her own language.  
Suddenly a pure-white mere appeared to be joining them to their playing while the girl would feed them with some fresh fruit from her palm. She appeared to be good with animals, especially horses.  
But most importantly...she hadn't left! Despite the fact she was yelled and even insulted, the girl didn't leave the cave. Instead of that she was out there like the teenage girl she was, playing around with the horses in the fresh air. Her hair was slightly wet with sweat glistering in the noon's sun. Her dark stallion seemed to be glowing in the sun, as he was almost as black as coal and only the purple patterns on his body would "break" the darkness of his wonderful dark brown fur. His hair was longer than Kisara's and the horse (as it was a stallion, after all) was more muscular and strong-looking but the mere next to him seemed also alive and well...  
In a second, the stallion licked the woman's hand for a second and she giggled and kept on caressing her horse when her eyes turned upwards towards the cave and saw him. Despite they were away from each other she could feel his eyes to her and she returned his gaze with her own.

Seeing that the girl hadn't left made him relieved. Even the tight on his chest loosened a bit. But he was feeling another weird sensation, as if he wanted to hide himself. Was it shame?  
He looked at the crucifix on his hands again, as if asking to God what he should do now. Well, the answer was simple: apologize, but still, it wasn't easy. He never, never, apologized to anyone. His pride wouldn't let him. He pressed the crucifix again. Of course God was testing him. Damn! He didn't like to be in this situation, but now he hadn't a choice, right? He sighed.

"Ok, God, you won. I will apologize to her if that's what You want. But..."  
He sighed again and remained in silence, just thinking for a while. And then he whispered to himself:

"But don't think I'm going to be her friend. When I get better I'm going back to my lonely life. I will get my revenge and I will be back to being just another lonely gunslinger. I don't need any companion besides Kisara; I'm fine on my own. And nothing is going to change that."

The girl slowly smiled upwards. She let her stallion go and she bent down to pick a small bag she had with her and started to go up the hill where the cave was. Meanwhile the dark stallion joined the mere for a run (the mere had looked up at her master for a second as if to make sure he was alright).  
The girl climbed fast and stood before him. She was small sized compared to him. Her head barely reached his jaw line but she seemed anything but fragile. She was smiling but her blue eyes were smart. She hadn't forgotten about this. She remained still, only looking at him.

That was it. The moment has arrived. It was now or never. He took a deep breath, trying to reunite his courage.

"I... I'm..."

He stammered. The words didn't want to slip from his mouth. He never imagined it could be so hard. If words had taste, this word in particular tasted bitter on his tongue. He swallowed and tried again.

"I'm s-s-sorry."

The word almost didn't come out, but he managed to spit it out. He was feeling so ashamed that he looked down at the cave floor, not wanting to see her reaction.

However her smile only became bigger, more sincere. She couldn't understand the words, but she knows what he's trying to say. She only bent down and opened her bag. Inside was a bowl made of baked clay, covered with animal's skin. When she opened it the smell of warm stew came out.

"Hungry?" she asked him showing it to him.

She had also two loaves of bread and some apples for the horses for later.

He looked at the food she had brought him and nodded.

"Yes."  
He picked the food and ate in silence.

* * *

She smiled and sat with him, eating too some bread and fruits occasionally raising her eyes to look at him.

As he was eating, he noticed that she was looking at him. He raised his own eyes and looked at her, with his brow furrowed. What was she looking, anyway? He felt a little annoyed and rolled his eyes. Women. He would never get them. As long as she didn't come near him again, that was fine. He finished his meal and cleaned himself, but he still remained silent.

She saw he finished so she simply got up and picked up the clay dish and placed it back to her own sack she too, speechless.

Seth noticed that she was also silent. He shrugged. Maybe it was better this way. He didn't want her invading his personal space again, anyway. So he lied down and pulled the blanket over himself. Perhaps now he was able to take a proper nap.

After tidying her stuff she went closer holding clean bandages. She showed them to him.

"I need to check your wounds" she only said in her language but it was pretty obvious what she wanted to do

He understood what she meant, even though she had spoken in her own language. He sighed and got up, for her to better examine him.

"Be quick."

It was the only think he said. He knew she wouldn't understand, but it didn't matter.

The girl carefully started unwrapping his bandages.

And, once again, he felt that annoying nervousness. He felt his cheeks getting warmer and his heart started jumping inside his chest. He really hated this sensation. He wished he could just punch himself for feeling so foolish. He couldn't understand what the hell was wrong with his body. And because of his nervousness, he started moving again, making things difficult for the girl.

No..." she softly said in his language again touching his shoulder, "Move no...no..."  
She removed the bandage from his chest and went to his leg that was also wrapped like this.

"Damn it!"

He couldn't help but let out a curse. It was frustrating. He was so angry at himself for feeling embarrassed. He was trying really hard to ignore these weird sensations, but it was so difficult. He felt his cheeks becoming even redder, which irritated him even more. When she started to unwrap the bandages on his leg, he was shaking in nervousness. He moved his leg by reflex and let out a grumble, as if that would help him feel less embarrassed.

The girl too would occasionally feel her cheeks getting warmer every time she was close to him. It was strange how much different he was than the people he knew and at the same time the same... She heard him curse and raised her head for a second, not knowing if she had hurt him or not (despite the fact she couldn't understand the word, she could tell it was because something was bothering him).  
After a couple of seconds she removed the old bandages and checked the wounds. They seem better already but she knew they were deep and that the man still would need time to recover, but she knew he only would need a couple of weeks. She got out her herbal cream and carefully and softly started smearing it over the wounds with her fingers.

When she started to smear the herbal cream on his wounds, he shrieked. At first, it burned, but later, the pain softened, and he felt better. He breathed deeply, as if trying to contain the pain (and the embarrassment). His cheeks were burning now, which only made him feel worse. He wanted this torture to end soon.

She ended with it pretty fast. She then grabbed the new bandages and started wrapping them around the wounds. She finished my tying the bandages securely upon the wounded parts. She stopped and smiled to herself with the job she did. She then mumbled a prayer and a thanking to the spirits of fire and water that didn't take this man from life and smiled once more.

"Good" she said, "Good"

* * *

When she finished her job, Seth sighed in relief. Thank goodness it had ended! He looked at her once more. Of course he was annoyed by all the strange sensations she provoked on him, and he felt uncomfortable when she would come near him, but somehow, he was feeling relieved that she hadn't left after he yelled at her. And, for a second, he left his arrogance aside.

"Thank you... For not leaving."  
He said carefully, being honest for the first time in that day. He didn't know if she would understand the word for "leave", but he tried as hard as he could to make her understand what he meant.

Leave? That verb was unknown to her but when she saw his eyes moving towards the exit she kind of understood what he wanted to say so she nodded smiling.

"You're...welcome..." she said.

She was enjoying his company no matter what he said. It was making her feel like the two of them were the only people in the world, but she knew this couldn't go on. This man was still wounded and perhaps still ill. He needed a roof over his head, good meals and rest. She knew he could have none of these here alone. Besides she was also a healer and many people might need her help. Her Master couldn't handle everything on his own and her older brother might be searching for her. She came closer to the man still on her knees.

"Ehm..."

She tried put words in order. She remembered he had used the word "when" once or twice. Probably that was what it was used for.

"When...emm...when...not tired...you...come. Come...me...rest..."

She tried to speak. To tell him he should come with her so he could recover to a proper place.

"Emm...not tired..."

She made a horse sound with her mouth like telling him when he was ready to ride a horse.

"You...me...come...to be...good..."

Seth had to take a while to fully understand what she meant. She wanted him to come with her, probably to her village, for a better recovery. He looked at the cave around him. He didn't want to be stuck in a cave. He was missing the fresh air, the sunlight. Maybe if he went with her, he would recover faster. It was impossible for him to recover faster in a dark, cold place like a cave. But still... he was still feeling insecure. He wasn't sure how her tribe would welcome him. And he usually didn't felt comfortable around a lot of people, especially people he didn't know and couldn't even speak his language. But he didn't have a choice. If he wanted to recover faster, he needed to leave that cave. But he still wasn't feeling good enough to ride. Maybe tomorrow he would be better. So he looked at her again and said carefully.

"Tomorrow. After I rest. I... I am still tired. Need some rest. "  
He made a gesture, showing her he wanted to sleep first and go the other day. He hoped she would understand.

"T-Tomorrow..." she repeated in kind of thought.

She saw his gesture and she saw outside the sun and back at him and then finally understood. Tomorrow meant the day after. That was what he wanted to say.

"Tomorrow!" she agreed with a nod, "Tomorrow...when not tired."  
She softly placed the blanket over his body and then went to the fire. She poured a little bit of water into a clay cup and some herbs in it and placed it on the hot coals. After a little she brought him the hot tea offering it to him. Gesturing for him to drink.

"This helps...helps...not tired..." she said trying to speak his language

He took the tea with both his hands.

"Thank you."

But when he took a sip, he felt the strong, bitter taste of the tea and he immediately spat it on the floor.

"Argh! This is horrible!"

He looked at her again, grimacing. And an ancient memory came to his mind, back to when he was a child. He remembered the time he got sick and sister Anna prepared a terrible tea for him to drink. Somehow, the similarity with this situation made him smile for a second, but when he noticed he was smiling, he made a grumpy face again.

She giggled a little at his attitude. Despite the fact she was a healer she knew how horrible taste those herbs had, but she also knew that they helped sick people get stronger.

"It helps…" she said again, "Do...good..."

"Yeah, I know."  
He rolled his eyes and took another sip. He grimaced again at the taste of the tea. At every sip he took, he made a stop and a grimace. The tea was horrible, but he managed to drink it all. And when he finished, he looked at her and asked for some water.

"Water. I want some water." He said, making a signal.

She nodded handing him the flask.

He took the flask and drank all the water it contained. He handed it over to her and wiped his mouth with his arm.

"Thank you."

"Wel...you're welcome"

She said taking it back

"Rest..." she said softly, catching one of the words he had spoken before.

Seth lied down again and pulled the blanket over him. He closed his eyes and soon he fell asleep.

Ishizu watched him for a second and then went out to feed the horses a little. When she came back it was late in the afternoon. For some reason she didn't want to leave him alone this night. She went to a corner of the cave and lay there till she too fell asleep.

* * *

 **Well guys here's another chappie with more interaction between Ishizu and Seth!**  
 **Poor little guy he's smitten in love for the first time and he is so confused! Also we find out something more about Seth here;**  
 **the fact that he has nightmares from time to time considering his father, Giovanni (Gozaburo's Western Incarnation).**  
 **We also got to see the attitude Seth has most of the time! Well...quite a difficult guy, isn't he? Poor Ishizu!**

 **Ishizu's scene with her horse was inspired by "Spirit the Stallion" movie when Little Creek was playing with Rain.**

 **Now someone might wonder why Ishizu is named as "Native American" or "Indian" instead of mentioning some tribe's name.**  
 **That is because Ishizu doesn't belong to some specific or existant tribe but she belongs to an un-named tribe** AnaPaulaDBZ (DA) a **nd I created. It is almost as if they symbolize the entire Native American population somehow.**  
 **The reason we did that was not only to prevent misunderstandings, by naming a specific tribe of Native Americans but also because we didn't want to put limits to our imagination regarding their rituals, customs, celebrations etc. I hope you guys understand us**

 **I am mentioning this to avoid any confusion in the future, because you'll never hear any name for the tribe Ishizu lives in or the people in her village or anything specific such as rituals and others that happen to real tribes. Therefore do not always expect something**  
 **specific for our story! Believe me it is not out of laziness to read about some specific tribe. It was all our decision!**

 **Anyway I hope you enjoy it so far! We sure enjoyed roleplaying it (and we still do! ) so we both hope that you liked our humble work. Of course more will come soon.**

 _Seth McLeach_ AnaPaulaDBZ

 _Ishizu_ katerinaaqu

 _Giovanni_ AnaPaulaDBZ

 **(Well we share the...horses but here mostly** AnaPaulaDBZ **did** _Kisara_ **while I did** _Mahaado_ **)**

 **Please do not claim or steal this art/story/plot without OUR permission! Thank you**


	5. The Indian Village

And the next morning came. The morning sunlight shone brightly through the cave entrance. The bounty hunter woke up slowly, still feeling a little drowsy after a long night's sleep. This time, he didn't have a nightmare, like the last night. He had slept so soundly that he couldn't remember if he dreamed or not. Maybe the bitter tea really helped him rest, after all. He stood up and stretched out his arms, letting out a yawn. He was indeed, feeling better now. He looked around to see if there was any sign of the girl.

She was by the fire taking care of the last coals remaining lit. When she felt the man stirring close to her she turned around and saw him. She smiled warm-heartedly and bowed her head in a "good morning" saying way. She approached him smiling.

"No tired?" she asked.

She knew the man had slept almost like a baby. She hadn't heard him screaming or breathing heavily so he didn't have nightmares or problems during the night. She could of course ask him first how he slept and how he is feeling but she couldn't speak any better his language. This was the best she could do...for now...

The man nodded his head, in affirmation to her question.

"Yes. Feeling better now. The tea helped." He said slowly for her to understand

She nodded her head. She had of course understood barely half of it but she nodded anyway. She poured soil over the fire to put it out completely and looked at him.

"Come...?" she asked

He nodded again.

"Sure." He said as he got up.

He was still having a little trouble to get his balance, so he leaned against the cave wall.

She quickly ran by his side to assist him to stand. She supported him on her shoulder with the same secure strength she did a couple of days ago.

When she helped him to stand, he suddenly felt a heat going through his body. The last time she had helped him to stand, he was too angry and irritated to notice how close she was to him. Again, he felt his cheeks going warmer and his heart jump inside his chest. But he couldn't walk without her help, so he didn't have a choice. Damn! This was irritating. However, he didn't say anything and just walked out of the cave with her, trying to ignore the weird sensations he was feeling.

Outside were the horses. The white mere made a sound of happiness seeing her lord coming out Seth could probably notice that the girl had managed to put the saddle to the horseback but not the reins too and the saddle wasn't fastened yet.  
The girl apologized for a second to go back to the cave and bring the rest of his stuff. She offered him his coat and hat and shirt. They were folded quite carefully, well...perhaps not the western style but...

While Ishizu went back to the cave, he tied up the saddle and the reins on his mare. When she came back, he took his clothes and put them on his saddlebag. However, he wore his travel coat to protect himself from the cold breeze. With some difficulty, he climbed on his horse's saddle and waited until the girl was ready to go.

Ishizu helped him on the saddle and then went to her own blackish stallion and hopped onto it quite easily, perhaps surprising the young bounty hunter, especially since she had no saddle or reins to hold onto before getting up the horse...  
She took position on her stallion, holding its long hair instead of reins.

The young bounty hunter was indeed surprised on seeing the girl ride her horse without a saddle or reins. Didn't she felt uncomfortable without a saddle? And how did she manage to control the horse without reins? Well, he guessed it didn't mattered now, anyway. He waited her to lead the direction to her village.

She smiled and gestured with her head to follow. She softly tapped her horse's side with her heel and they started marching slowly.

The mare started to march alongside the blackish stallion. Seth could feel his wounds aching a bit with the movement, but hopefully, her village shouldn't be far away, so he would only have to hold on for a short time.

* * *

It took them a couple of hours to ride in the desert and they made a stop so he would rest and they would drink some water and eat some fruits she had with her. After that they kept on for about the same amount of time. Early in the afternoon they smelt smoke in the air and soon the small tents came to view a few hundreds of meters away...  
They marched slowly and carefully, Ishizu in the front and he on the back. When they came closer they could hear the voices of children playing on the streets and of women working or calling their children back... The small tents soon came to plain view becoming bigger and bigger as they came closer... Soon they saw they were made out of colorful pieces of cloth. People in the streets wearing also brown, leather clothes and having their faces painted with many patterns and many colors and wearing strange jewelry and other stuff on their necks and ears and feathers to their clothes and hair...  
However as they passed by, they would raise their heads to check on the newcomers. They would smile for Ishizu if it weren't...the White Man behind her! Many of them gasped scared, some mothers tried to gather their children close to them...Some of them spoke through their teeth into their language that seemed like curses or prayers...some others would hide into the possible safety of their tents...

"Such a welcoming committee." He said with sarcasm as he watched the people's reaction.

Just as he imagined, they wouldn't welcome him with open arms. He couldn't blame this people, though. Many of them were slaughtered in the Civil War and had their lands taken by Confederate soldiers, so it was only natural they wouldn't trust him. In fact, he still wanted to know why Ishizu had helped him. It was still a mystery he wanted to solve. As he passed through the village, he examined everything. He had to admit to himself that he was a little curious about this people.  
He followed Ishizu and watched carefully the surroundings.

As Ishizu rode slowly among the tents she noticed someone running among them. She knew very well where he was heading... She slowly followed her path till she reached the biggest tent of all, decorated with many patterns around the top. She hopped off her stallion and then went to assist him to get down.

"Come..." said in his language, "Come..."  
She helped him de-mount and then went to the entrance of the tent. She half opened it and then waved her hand for him to follow her. The move was fast and kind of impatient.

Seth followed her into the entrance of the tent. He was surprised to see that it was the biggest tent of the village. Was she the daughter of the chief or something? He hadn't imagined she could be so important among her people. He swallowed in nervousness. He didn't know what was going to happen next, but he had a bad feeling about this.

Ishizu brought the finger to her lips to tell him to be quiet and be respectful, as if they would go to meet God Himself. Then they entered to the large tent.  
Inside there was a central fire that gave out a nice scent of firewood burning. It was simple it had simple walls and floor and a big chair made out of wood and dressed in cow-leather. On it was a tall man with caramel skin and hair in the color of wet sand while his eyes were dark levanter. He didn't seem much older than Seth in age. His eyes though were a pair of pieces of glass, sharp and dangerous.  
He was dressed with typical leather clothes but he wore a hat with countless feathers of eagle. He was holding a long stick that appeared to be his scepter that also had eagle feathers on it. His clothes had many patterns on it and he wore simple shoes to his feet. His face was painted in several places. On his back he wore a large cape with finishing of raccoon tails that fell on his shoulders to keep the cape in place.  
He had one person on each side of his "throne". The two guards were tall (even a head taller than Seth) but double his muscles and had darker skin and eyes. Next to the throne was also the man who had run earlier. Obviously had warned the chief.  
Ishizu didn't miss much time and went before him and kneeled with respect while speaking to her language.

"Great Chief Machakw, I humbly request a hearing."  
The man though narrowed his eyes looking at the man behind and then at her who was now looking up at him

"Sister!" His voice was deep and angry, "Why did you bring the White Man here? Why did you refuse to obey my orders!"

"Older Brother!"

Now her tone was anything but submissive. She was almost authoritative

"This man is the one from my dream! He is the man upon the White Horse that will rush through the fire."

"You know I respect your dreams and visions! But to bring him here! Unforgivable!"

"Brother! This man is our only hope! Send him away and you send our people to doom!"

"How dare you raise your voice to me!"  
At the rumble of his voice, Ishizu bent her head in an apology but she didn't falter. On the contrary she looked up again.

"Brother, this man is our only hope, this man can help us!"

"We do not need his help! Or any other White Man's! They only know to destroy! I will not bear his presence here! Not in my village!"

"Big Brother, listen to me! The man is injured! He needs a place to recover! Send him out now and he'll die! People are after him. Send him away and if he does not die, they will kill him! Send him away and you will be no better than those you accuse!"  
This made the man thoughtful. Ishizu took advantage of his silence to continue.

"Just let him stay till he recovers. If he causes trouble then I will not interfere. Just give me time. I am sure the prophecy will be fulfilled."

"Hmm..." He softly tapped his scepter to the ground, "Very well. Till his wounds heal and not further! After that he leaves! He will be watched constantly! If he does anything that disturbs my village, I'll kill him!"  
Ishizu bowed her head once more.

Seth couldn't understand a word they were saying, but he imagined, by the tone they were using, that the chief and Ishizu were arguing. And he was the subject of their discussion. The whole time, he remained silent and with his head low, in a bow.  
He was feeling so nervous that he started to sweat. He was in a very complicated situation now. The young man swallowed a lump on his throat as the conversation between Ishizu and the chief continued, and when they finished, he was somehow, relieved, but he wanted to get away from that tend as soon as possible.

 _"I don't know what's going on here, but I do know that this people doesn't trust me. Well, I think I can only trust on this girl now..."_  
He thought to himself after Ishizu finished her conversation with the Chief.

Ishizu stood up and went to the chief. She took his hand and kissed it tenderly. It was obvious she loved him dearly and she deeply respected him... The young man in the beginning seemed to be hesitating for a second but he caressed her hair softly and took her closer to him.

"You were always stubborn, Sister... Even since you saw the Great Spirits for the first time... But be careful... If he does anything...ANYTHING to hurt you, I swear I'll pull his heart out of his chest myself to see if he truly bleeds red blood or if his wicked blood is white like everything else on him!"  
Ishizu sighs softly and kisses his hand again.

"Brother...I am certain he won't hurt me. If he wanted to hurt me he had plenty of chances despite the fact he is wounded. I know he carries the Weapons of Fire. But he didn't use them. I doubt he will right now. We have nothing the White Men want. We have done nothing to him. The White Men that are after him left him in the desert to die. Most likely they believe he is dead right now and they won't come after him..."  
She held her brother's hand tightly.

"Mahaado trusts him. The Spirit of Water within my horse trusts him and the mere he has with him trusts him too. If you doubt him or me at least trust them. Spirits are never wrong...and my Master is rarely wrong... He confirmed my dream...he confirmed my vision..."  
The young chief let out a sigh and caressed her black hair taking a lock within his fingers.

"Very well, Sister. I will trust you, I will trust your hunch and your vision but I will never trust him. Never!"  
This seemed to be enough for the young girl for she smiled and nodded her head. She bowed one last time and went to him helping him stand for she could see the trip was long and exhausting for him and by touching him, she felt that his fever had climbed up again and that he would need some rest to fully recover.

"Come..." she whispered to him in his language softly like the small rain, "Come..."

* * *

Somehow, the vision of her being so tender to the Chief bothered Seth. Was the Chief her husband or something? But he soon shook the thought from his head. Why would it bother him? It's not like he _**cared**_ anyway.  
When the conversation between the two was over, Seth felt a little dizzy. His body was trembling. He thought that maybe it was because of his nervousness of being in front of an Indian Chief who didn't liked his presence on his village, but now he wasn't sure anymore. He was also feeling cold. The only thing he wanted was to get out of that tend, so he followed Ishizu.

Outside the smell of smoke was less intense and the evening breeze was cool and refreshing. Ishizu softly touched his forehead to mop away some of the sweat that had started to form there.

"Come..." she said again tenderly, "Me...helps..." she whispered again as she slowly started leading him to another tent a few..."blocks" away

Seth followed her to the tent. He was feeling so dizzy and weak that he wasn't thinking properly anymore. All he wanted now was to get some rest.

Ishizu led him to a smaller tent and opened the curtain to allow him go inside...

Seth entered the tent and immediately sat down, with a hand on his forehead. Now he sensed the heat from his own fever. He looked at Ishizu with his tired eyes. He didn't say a word, but by the look on his face, it was obvious that he wasn't feeling very well.

The tent was small and tidy and had a small mattress to the corner and a small stove in the center with a hole to the top for the smoke to go out. Ishizu had gone to throw more firewood and skillfully light the central fire when she saw him sitting down. Immediately she ran by his side and helped him stand and led him to the mattress. Obviously it was hers. She removed his coat and helped him lie down on the soft mattress and the soft hand-made pillow. She covered him with a clean blanket and immediately went to a corner where a bowl of water and a jug lay. She poured water in the bowl and came closer, wetting a small rag in it. She placed the wet rug to his forehead.

"It's alright..."  
She whispered to her language caressing his head tenderly as if he really was her sick husband. Of course Seth McLeach couldn't understand the words but it was obvious from her eyes what she was saying.

"It's alright...I'll take care of you..."

Seth was breathing heavily. He was feeling so sick that he didn't minded at all that the girl was caressing him. In fact, it even made him feel a little... relieved, and somewhat, secure. He stared at her with his deep, ice-cold eyes that pierced right through her soul.

"Ishizu..."

It was the first time he had called her name. And then he held her hand carefully, as if he was hesitant. The fever was getting worse and he wasn't thinking straight.

"Thank... you..." He said with a weak voice, looking into her eyes

Hearing her name through his lips, especially in a whisper, made her heart skip beat in worry, happiness that she was useful, agony, compassion...all together. He needed her! She just couldn't let him die! Maybe he was too weak and he shouldn't have traveled so soon! No she shouldn't think like that. The cave wasn't a place for a sick man! She couldn't leave him there too much... Now he was there, in her home, and she wouldn't let him die! She had to follow the dream, to follow her instinct!  
She gave his hand a squeeze as well as a response and only nodded her head, caressing his sweaty forehead tenderly, like a sister, like a mother, like a lover and like a wife all together.

"Don't worry..." she whispered again in her language but her eyes were speaking on their own, "I will take care of you...You won't die...not yet! Not yet..."  
She took the already boiling hot rag from his forehead and cooled it back into the water before placing it to his forehead again. She then let go of him (even if she didn't want to) and went to place yet another small cup to the fire to make him an herbal drink. When she did that she went back to him again, while waiting for the water to boil. It was as if she couldn't leave him alone for long... She saw his wounds were bleeding really slightly. However she came to the conclusion that his fever was more urgent now. She removed the rug again and placed it in the water and then to his forehead again.  
She was holding his hand with her one hand while her free hand was taking the second rag in the bowl and with it started mopping softly his chest to cool him off a little...

The sound of her voice was relaxing. The way she was caressing him also helped him to relax. He felt a warm feeling take over him, and it wasn't from the fever. It was something that made him feel... good. Safe. Protected. Like the feeling he used to feel long ago, in the orphanage, whenever sister Anna was near him, taking care of him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he squeezed her hand, as if to make sure she was still there. Her presence somehow, made him feel better.

Ishizu was smiling softly, a soft, maternal smile full of care. She had seen this man strong in the desert fighting for his life, she had seen him soft and smiley and the next the strong man he was...but now he almost was like a child...Vulnerable in his fever, he was holding her hand as if to tell her that he needs company till he falls asleep...  
She couldn't help but find the scene adorable and his almost liquid from fever eyes not only adorable but also more charming than ever. His face was flushed from fever making him look as beautiful as no man she had ever seen before...and she had treated many sick men in her village... Perhaps it was the fact his skin was pale so she could see every detail...Ishizu didn't know and didn't care...  
Purely subconsciously she started mumbling a kind of lullaby...something her mother used to sing. She was humming its melody through her nose while caressing his head with her free hand...  
She heard the water boil so she temporarily let go of him to take the tea. She tried to improve the taste by adding a little bit of honey inside it. It usually helped... She then approached him and carefully lifted his upper body to...pour the liquid in his mouth softly and carefully so he wouldn't spill it or burn himself with it...

By the sound of her voice singing, Seth felt more relaxed than ever. Now his breath was soft and his tense muscles now were relaxing. He was feeling so comfortable and secure around her that, unconsciously, he caressed her hand, as if thanking her for taking care of him.  
And then, he felt her lifting his body and pouring something into his mouth. He drank all the liquid, coughing a little at the end, and lied down again.

She smiled to him softly as she changed the rag on his forehead again to keep him cool. She kept on singing softly to him, caressing his head to assure him and make him relax. She knew the drink she gave him would help the fever go down but in reality it was rest and good food that would help him. Obviously he was exhausted from pain and fever to eat now but in the morning she should definitely bring him something...  
Her singing or better...humming was coming off soft and airy, to help him feel relaxed and feel like home... His warm hand (and not only because of fever) was feeling so right into hers... For a moment the young Shaman felt like it was her destiny to hold this hand... It was an overwhelming feeling... Seeing him relaxing made her smile relieved... She took a new wet rug and wetted his lips a little, or dropping a few drops into his mouth. She knew that feverish people tended to feel thirsty so she wanted to keep him cool and fine...  
At the end of the soft lullaby she just couldn't resist this feeling...this feeling that she was where she belonged...and she placed her lips upon the man's forehead for a couple of seconds.  
She could feel how hot his flesh was from fever upon her lips. She pulled back softly and caressed his head again, and placed a new rug on it...

He was feeling much better now. His fever wasn't totally gone, but just the sensation of her standing beside him, caressing him, singing to him, made him feel so relaxed, so... at peace. It has been years since he last felt this way. His life of ex-outlaw and his life of bounty hunter was always tormented, filled with sorrow, hatred and violence, but now he felt like he came back to his childhood days, in the security and warmth of the orphanage where the nuns treated him like a son.  
With the sound of her voice, he slowly began to fall asleep. Still a little drowsy, he squeezed her hand one last time and took a deep breath when he felt her lips on his forehead before finally falling asleep completely, still holding her hand.

Ishizu felt the squeezing in her hand becoming fainter so she knew he was slowly falling asleep. She looked at him and his face confirmed it. His breathing was calm, calm like she had never seen him before and his chest was moving up and down slowly like the waves of a peaceful creek at the edge of the forest. She also smiled cause she felt her hand less warm under. That meant his fever had started to drop again. She was relieved by that.  
She knew he was strong but he needed to rest. This clingy and childish behavior of his while she was holding his hand and singing to him, had touched her heart beyond what words could say. She just couldn't bring herself to stop thinking of his liquid eyes looking at her almost pleadingly, almost like a sick child that woke up from a nightmare and was asking from his mother to stay by his side till he fell asleep again... Her heart seemed ready to break out of the feeling of happiness that she was able to help him relax, or better that she achieved making him relax. She changed his compress once more, carefully not to wake him up and stood up, letting go of his hand and placing it on his chest softly.  
She then stood up and went to the fire to take care of the coals and make sure that the sparkles wouldn't start a fire within her tent. It was a routine for her before sleeping. She poured some soil to the fire to make it low coals that would provide warmth but not extreme hotness and left the tent to take care of the horses... By the night, before she fell asleep she saw he was still sleeping. She smiled and covered him with the fur of an animal so she would keep him warm in the chill of night. She knew that people with fever tended to feel cold especially at nights so close to the desert, so she didn't want him to wake up and feel uneasy... She checked the fire once more...and she went to a corner of her tent to sleep, occasionally waking up to check on him...

* * *

 **Hey guys! Like I promised I tried to update the story (before my departure for Christmas Vacation)**

 **As the title says Seth is taken to the Indian Village where he also meets with the Chief Machakw, Ishizu's older brother.**  
 **What's going to happen between them? And also how will Ishizu help Seth? Will she save him or he'll die of his wounds?**

 **Seth and Ishizu had another sweet scene and believe me even** AnaPaulaDBZ **and I who roleplayed this we were totally thinking how cute they are!**

 **I hope you like it!**

 _SethMcLeach_ **was** AnaPaulaDBZ

 _Ishizu_ **was** katerinaaqu

 _Chief Machakw_ **was** katerinaaqu

 **Please do not claim or steal this art/story/plot without OUR permission! Thank you**


	6. English Lessons and Milk of the Poppy

The morning sunlight shone brightly through the small tent. This time, Seth woke up with the sounds of children playing outside and that's how he remembered that he wasn't in the cave anymore. He slowly sat up, blinking his eyes. Again, he had slept so well that he couldn't remember if he had nightmares, like he usually did, but he remembered having a dream... A very _**embarrassing**_ dream, to say the least. He had dreamed about Ishizu, singing softly to him, while caressing his head and holding his hand tenderly, as if they were a married couple. Just the thought of that made Seth blush furiously. She had even kissed his forehead, for God's sake! Well, luckily, it was just a dream, right? But he was indeed in the Indian village. He could remember meeting the Chief, who didn't looked happy by his presence on his village, and he could remember seeing Ishizu and him arguing... He even remembered how _**tenderly**_ she was acting towards the Chief and just the thought of that made Seth feel a sudden rage growing inside him, even though he didn't knew why.  
What if he was her husband? Why did it matter, anyway? It's not like he cared about it or anything like that.  
But then he shook these thoughts from his head and focused on his memories from the last day again. He remembered seeing her arguing with the Chief. He remembered feeling ill afterwards. Maybe he just fainted and then he was brought by this tent to recover. That was it. Everything that happened between him and Ishizu was just a dream. A very, _**very**_ embarrassing dream. Just it. He was convinced by this.

It wasn't long after the young bounty hunter felt someone enter the tent. It was Ishizu and was holding a bowl with a soup in it; A thick soup with corn and vegetables and with herbal plants of the mountain. As she got in and saw that he had his eyes open she smiled softly and nodded her head in a good morning.

"Good morning" She said in her language, of course Seth could not understand the words exactly but it was obvious she was greeting him

Suddenly, he got startled by the presence of the young woman, who just interrupted his thoughts. He retreated a little, feeling a strange sensation on his chest. A warm sensation, like the one he felt when she was...

 _"No. No, no, no, just NO! It was just a dream! A DAMN DREAM!"_ he screamed on his head, but somehow, he could feel deep inside him that that statement wasn't true.

Worst of it, he could now remember how much he _**wanted**_ her presence by his side. Of course he didn't wanted to admit it to himself. But now the memories were clear now. It _**wasn't**_ just a dream. And that thought terrified him. How foolish of him!  
 _"Just_ _ **what the hell**_ _is wrong with me, anyway?"  
_ He tried to put his thoughts in order. Last night he was feeling sick. Worst of all, he was feeling **weak.** That was a word Seth despised. He was always trying to prove how strong he was and he couldn't bear the thought of being weak and vulnerable. But worst of all, all of this was _his_ own fault. If he hadn't been so careless, he wouldn't had been shot and none of this would have happened. He was feeling so stupid right now that he wanted to scold yourself with all the bad words possible.

He lifted his eyes to girl again. His cheeks were flushed from embarrassment, but his eyes were fierce. He was so angry at himself that he made a grimace at the girl, just like a wolf growling to a stranger who just entered its territory. He didn't yelled, but his face showed how irritated he was.

Slowly took a step back seeing his face, mostly surprised than scared of him but she walked to him bravely and the smile came back to her face. She placed the bowl with the warm soup to his lap.

"Hungry..." She said softly, "...emm...f-food..." She said unsure if she had got the word right

His face softened a bit by the sight of the soup. He was indeed hungry. He took the bowl with the soup with both his hands.

"Huh... Thank you..." He said, a little hesitant

She smiled and nodded her head.

"You're welcome"

She also gave him a small loaf of corn bread, still warm.

He drank the soup and took the bread, eating in silence. After he finished, he looked at the girl again and asked for a small rug to clean himself making a gesture. He pointed to the corners of his mouth and then to the blanket that was covering him. Then he pointed to himself and pretended do be cleaning his mouth. And after that, he pointed at himself again and said;

"I clean myself."  
He said it slowly and repeated a few times, trying to make her understand. He then pointed at her.

"Not you, no. I clean myself."  
He hoped she could understand this time. Of course she remembered how last time he yelled at her, so he was hoping she could get the message this time.

The young Indian girl smiled softly and went to the corner of the room to bring a clean rag and gave it to him but at the same time knelt beside him and touched his forehead.

"Thank, all good Spirits!" She said to her language, "The fire in the skin has dropped..."

He had used the rag to clean himself and when she touched his forehead, his eyes widened and his heartbeat fast, so he retreated a little, feeling his cheeks blush again, for his displeasure. He tried to hide it making a grumpy face.

"Good" she said softly, "No tired...good..."  
With "no tired" of course she meant that his fever had dropped but she didn't know the words.

Seth raised an eyebrow, but soon he got what she was trying to say.

"Oh. I think you mean "No fever." Am I right?" He asked, looking into her eyes

"Fever...?" she asked at the new word she heard

"Yes, fever." He pointed at his forehead

"Ah!" she says as she understood and repeated the move she had made in the cave pointing at the fire and then in her skin as if asking if "fever" meant "fire in skin"

"Yes." He nodded his head in affirmation  
Somehow, seeing how fast she was learning his language was something that made him smile. But as soon as he noticed it, he made a serious face again.

"Fever..." she repeated as if taking note to herself to remember that. "Fever"

Somehow, seeing her learning his language was something that made him smile again, but as soon as he noticed it, he made a serious face again. He then tried to get up, as he didn't wanted to be sitting in the tent all day long.

She saw him and tried to stop him.

"No...fever...back..." said as if telling him that she would be afraid that his fever would come back

He sat down again, a little annoyed. It was like he was a stubborn child who didn't want to listen to their mother. He grunted and looked at her again, his eyes expressing his annoyance.

"So now what? Am I going to be stuck here forever?"  
He knew she couldn't understand the words, but it was clear that he was irritated.

"Tomorrow" she promised, luckily she had learnt that word, "Tomorrow...when no fever"

He grunted again, in annoyance and crossed his arms.

 _"Such a situation I've put myself in."_ He thought.

He looked at the girl again and felt his cheeks getting warmer. The memories of last night suddenly came back to him. He was sweating in his fever, completely out of his right mind. He had even _**held**_ her hand! He remembered the feeling of safety; of warmth he had felt when she was singing and caressing him... No, no, he couldn't think that. He wasn't on his right mind. Of course something was wrong with him. He wasn't a stupid child anymore! He had learned to be strong the hard way. Life wasn't easy, life was full of suffering and pain and being strong was the only way to survive. That's what he had learned living among outlaws and being a bounty hunter. So why was he feeling such stupid, weak sensations such as these?  
He immediately shook all of these thoughts from his head and focused back on his revenge against Giovanni. That's what he wanted to do, he would get his revenge, as soon as he get better, he would leave that village and the Indian girl, and he would stop feeling weak.  
But for now... There wasn't much he could do. He was curious about the girl, though. Why did she save him? It was obvious her tribe didn't like him, so why she had the trouble to rescue him? And who was the Chief, after all? Was it her husband? There were so many questions on his head, but he didn't know how he would get the answers to them.  
He then looked at the girl again. She seemed to be learning fast how to speak his language. Perhaps, if he tried to teach her more... But how would he do that?

"Emm... Sit." he pointed at her and then to a spot near him, indicating her to sit, "Sit."

"Sit...?" She pointed at herself and then realized it what he meant.

She smiled broadly. It is the first time he actually invited her to sit beside him! She nodded her head and sat beside him.

"Sit..." She repeated, "Me...sit"

"Yes, sit." He confirmed.

Then he crossed his legs and stood in front of her. He didn't know how he would teach her his language, but he remembered how fast she learned when she was trying to communicate with him, so he tried to start a conversation. Maybe she would learn something.

"I am Seth."

He introduced himself to her again. And then he made a gesture, pointing at himself and mimicking a bow and arrow, because that was the closest to the word "hunter" he could get at the moment. Of course she wouldn't know what a "bounty hunter" was, but he decided to explain that later, when she learnt more about his language.

"Hunter. I am a Hunter."

He repeated a few times, trying to make her understand.

She was staring at him with her dark blue eyes, as if taking in every move he made, every gesture, every glance!

"Seth...Hunter..."  
Her smile brightened, as she understood.

"Ah! Hunter!" She said in her language triumphantly.  
Of course Seth cannot understand what she said but it is clear from her eyes that she has gotten what he wanted to say.

"Hunter" she nodded her head and touched his shoulder

"I am Seth!" she said meaning him!

"No!"  
He put a hand on his face

" **I** am Seth. You are Ishizu!" He said, pointing at her.

"You. Ishizu." He repeated.

"I...you..."

She thought about it for a second. She remembered the word "me" so...she thought about the moves he had made. He had said "I" why pointing himself and "you" when pointing her. Could it be that the term "you" was for her and "I" for him? No. She should think it elsewhere. It took her a minute to understand what it meant.

"I..." said pointing herself and then at him saying, "You..."

"Yes."

He nodded, pointing at himself.

"I.."

"Then he pointed at her again.

"You..."

She nodded.

"I...I...ehm...am...am Ishizu..."  
She said trying to remember what he had used with the word "I".

"You...mm...are Seth...?"  
She looked at him smiling waiting to hear if she did well.

"Yes!" He smiled and nodded his head in affirmation.

"I am Seth. You are Ishizu." He repeated, to make sure she would understand

She nodded and even clapped her hands together once, excited at how she managed to say it right!

The way she clapped her hands together made Seth's face blush a little. It was kinda... cute.

 _"WHAT THE HELL?"_  
He shook these stupid thoughts from his head. What in the world was happening to him, anyway? He focused back on his "lessons".

"So... I am a Hunter." He pointed to himself, mimicking the bow and arrow again

"I...emm..." immediately corrected herself saying, "You are...a Hunter"

"Yes." He nodded again. "And you are...?"  
He didn't know how he was going to ask her. He presumed she was some kind of healer, since she was taking care of him, but he didn't knew what gesture he could do to make her understand. He tried to point at his bandages and then at her, trying to signalize that she had done that.

"Healer? Are you a healer?"

He hoped she would understand

"Healer...?"

She looked at him. Observed his move and sees he is pointing at the bandage. "Healer" was supposed to mean "shaman"? No it wasn't the case. She knew that White Men couldn't exactly understand the meaning of "shaman" so she thought about it again... Bandages, the one she wrapped them was her...

"Healer...?"  
Then she thought she got it.

"Healer...healer...make...good?"  
Meaning if a healer was the person who makes other people better "someone who fixes" them or something.

"Huh...Yes. Healer makes good." He answered, looking into her eyes.

Ishizu nodded her head. She felt somehow proud as if she was a little girl that firstly spoke her first word and everyone is complimenting her. All her life she knew nothing else but her people, her tribe, her land, and her language. However now a complete stranger to her was teaching her, actually teaching her his own language. The language of White People!

Seth let out a small smile, seeing how fast she was learning his language.

"Good."

It was the closest he came to a compliment. But then suddenly, he felt a strong pain in his lower torso, where the bullet hit him. He looked down and saw that the wound had started bleeding again.

"Dammit..." He cursed in frustration and then his face writhed in pain

The girl gasped and got off the bed to check the bandage. There was no time for her to lose so instead of simply un-wrapping it, she drew out her small knife with handle made of deer's horn and cut the bandage open, careful not to touch his flesh.

He closed his eyes, not wanting to see what the girl was about to do. The pain was getting stronger and he just wanted it to end soon.

Breathing fast checked the wound; It should be fine by now! So why now...? Was it the trip? Was something she did wrong?!

"Shh..." she whispered softly at him as if she was reassuring a little child to bear the pain for a little longer.

She went to the fire and broke one of the coals and immediately bright fire came out. She ran to a corner and brought out a small box. Inside there were some small needles and also threads made of strong vines. She purified one of them to the flame and then grabbed a small pinchers. Looked at him almost pitifully. No she couldn't do it like this.  
She went to the corner of the room and opened a vase. Inside it had a white liquid. Ran at him and pours the liquid into a small cup

"You!" said, "This..."  
Meaning for him to drink this.

He took the small cup from his hands and drank the liquid that was inside it.

The girl couldn't miss much time. Went straight to the fire and grabbed a lit coal with the small object. Walked closer to the man and touched the bleeding wound with it. The smell of burnt flesh filled the small tent.

Seth felt a piercing pain where she touched. It wasn't as strong as it normally would be, but it was still bad enough to make him shriek and flinch by instinct.

The girl softly threw the coal back into the fire and wiped her sweat. She then took the small needle and passed a thread from it. She approached him and slowly...started stitching the wound.

He breathed slowly, as a way of ignoring the pain. He still didn't want to look at what the girl was doing, because he was afraid of feeling even more pain if he watched her doing her job, so he tried to remain quiet. Occasionally, he moved a little, by reflex.  
At least, this time, he wasn't feeling embarrassed. The pain was the only thing bothering him right now.

Finishing the stitch and cutting the thread with her teeth did the job. She then went to the corner of the room and started hitting herbs and melting them into a cream. She spread the cream over his burnt wound and then started carefully to wrap it in bandages.

The pain seemed to be relieving, now. He took a deep breath and relaxed. Finally, he opened his eyes and looked at the girl again, who was wrapping the bandages again. When she finished, he was relieved.

"Thank you..." He said with a calm voice, almost like a whisper

The young girl smiled softly and caresses his cheek, pushing some hair off his face.

"It's alright now...it's alright..."

She was speaking in her language again but even if Seth couldn't understand the words, for sure he would get the meaning of what she was trying to say. She finished tying the bandage and sighed in relief. The wound was indeed big and if she hadn't closed it with fire he might even bleed to death or his wound to get infected. She had seen many people from her village dying because of infected wounds. She knew that Seth was still under the influence of the drug and that he would feel light-headed for a little while but she had taken care not to give him large amount of this milk so he would get back to his usual self soon.

When she caressed his cheek, Seth felt a shiver run down his spine and his stomach freeze. Blood rushed to his face, making him as red as a tomato. Because of the effect of the milk, though, he didn't react, as he was feeling a little dizzy. If he was on his normal self he would have moved away abruptly or also snarl at her. But, instead, he remained still, feeling this strange sensation dominate him.

Ishizu softly looked down at him, as if her eyes apologizing to him for hurting him...

Seth remained silent for a while, just staring at her beautiful, dark blue-eyes.

"You have beautiful eyes..." He said, moving a strand of hair out of her face

"Eh?!" she was kind of taken aback by this sudden move.

Of course she hasn't understood the words but...but she could see it was a praising...and a praising of a kind she had never heard before! Her cheeks slightly got colored with a small blush. She knew it was the poppy in him speaking but still...his eyes were sincere...

Seth let out a silly smile as he continued to stare at her. He soon found himself lost in the immensity of her blue eyes and felt a heat wave through his whole body as he contemplated her beauty.

"You really are beautiful..." He said, as he started to caress her cheek with his fingers.

The effect of the poppy was strongly affecting him and he wasn't thinking clearly.

The girl felt her heart flatter for some reason.

"Beautiful...?"

Asked kind of shocked at the way she heard a new word in his language. Of course she knew in his state he wouldn't be able to give her a proper answer...but still for some reason she knew it was something good...perhaps better than the things she was ready for...

"Yes... Beautiful..."

He repeated, still stroking the girl's cheeks with his fingers, noticing every detail of her face, to her deep blue eyes, her soft, caramel skin and her long, pure black hair. He felt his cheeks going warmer as he stared at her.

She knew it was pointless to ask him what it meant but she felt his warm skin on her and nodded.

"Beautiful..." she repeated

He took a deep breath and remained silent as he continued to stroke her cheek and stare at her. As the minutes passed, he became drowsier. He blinked slowly, feeling his eyelids getting heavy and let out a yawn. He was feeling a little tired and needed to take a nap.

"Tired..." she whispered to him softly

"You need rest in order to heal" she now whispered in her language fixing the pillow and the covers a little, "In a few hours you'll be better..."

He lied down again and closed his eyes sleep slowly coming to him. It didn't take much long for him to completely fall asleep again.

The young Ishizu smiled down at the sleeping man. She then looked down at his wound and knew that the man would be in pain the morning after but at least she managed to stop the bleeding. The man was a fighter. All warriors of her village had learnt since they were children to bear with the pain. This man was not a warrior but still...something on him remained her of one... She smiled and then left him rest...

* * *

 **Yes people! Finally the next chapter of this fanfiction/roleplay's out!**

 **As you can see is just another small one of sweetness and awkwardness for poor Seth McLeach! There were complications**  
 **with his wounds apparently because of the many-hour-riding in order to get to the village and walk to it. His wound re-opened**  
 **and Ishizu tried to heal him again, making sure that he was alright.**  
 **You know...I had asked** AnaPaulaDBZ **(Deviantart) what would happen if Seth was...drugged like it happens to us when we get the morphine to fall asleep for a surgery! She found the idea interesting and...THIS is the result!**

 **Of course we're not sure if people in those Native American villages used the poppy as a drug for more dangerous healing reasons such as what Ishizu did right now (cautirizing a wound) but we had this idea remembering also the Ancient Egyptian drug they used!**  
 **We just thought it would be an interesting idea!**

 **Also the sweet scene with Seth WILLINGLY teaching her his language! And adorable Ishizu getting excited with it!**  
 **Thank you very much for reading our story so far and I hoped you liked this**

 _SethMcLeach_ AnaPaulaDBZ

 _Ishizu_ katerinaaqu

 **Please do not claim or steal this art/story/plot without OUR permission! Thank you**


	7. Embarassement After

Because of the effect of the poppy, Seth had slept more than expected. When he woke up, he was still feeling a little dizzy. He could still feel his wounds aching, but at least, they weren't bleeding anymore. He looked around him and he suddenly became irritated.

" _Damn! All I do now is eat and sleep! I'm feeling so useless!"_

He sat up again and looked for any sign of Ishizu.

" _Where is that woman?"_ He asked himself as he looked for her

The curtain moved to reveal her. She was holding a small bowl with blackberries and under her other arm was a small basket with herbs she obviously picked up a little earlier. She saw him awake and smiled.

" _Milk's influence must have worn off. Luckily"_

She approached to him and placed her basket and bowl with fruits nearby and then touched his forehead for a second.

"No fever... Good..." she said softly

Now that the effect of the milk had passed, Seth was looking annoyed, as usual. When he saw the girl, he grimaced and rolled his eyes, in annoyance. Of course he knew that he _needed_ her help to become well again, but he couldn't help but to feel annoyed. It was annoying enough to bear the fact that he was responsible for all of this. But what annoyed him the most was the strange and stupid sensations he felt every time she was near him. When she approached him and touched his forehead he could feel his cheeks getting warmer again, and this only made him feel even more irritated. He grunted and looked at her, pointing to the outside.

"Can I go out now?"

He made some gestures to make her understand his question. He was tired of being stuck in the tent all along and he was tired of this routine of eat and sleep, but most of all, he was tired of feeling so useless.

"Out...?"

She looked towards the direction he was pointing at, outside her tent, and then back at him. She realized what he meant.

"No. Out no. Now...not good."  
She showed him his bandaged area, towards his newly stitched area. She showed him the bowl with fruits.

"Hungry?" she asked smiling

He grunted and rolled his eyes again with her answer and then he looked down at the bowl with fruits she had brought him.

" _Humpf. What more can I do, besides eating, anyway?"_ He thought angrily, but he picked some fruits and started eating

She watched him eating but then played with her hair a little and pulled some behind her ear.

"Err..." tried to find the words to say it,

"Emm..."Beautiful"...what...?" managed to remember the questions he had said

Suddenly, Seth choked with his own food. He was taken by surprise with the girl's question. He coughed a few times, in order to the food go down his throat and then he looked at her, with his eyes widened.

"WHAT?"

He couldn't believe what he had just heard. Maybe he had misheard her because he was distracted.

For a moment she was surprised by his reaction. Had she said something THAT wrong? But still...

""Beautiful"...what...?"  
Asked again trying to sound more certain of the words she used.

"You...emm..."Beautiful...e...eyes"...? What?"

Seth's face was redder than a pepper. Just **WHERE** had she heard those words? The logical answer was that he, at any given time, had **said** those words to her. She couldn't have learned them out of the blue! But then again, he never spoke those words out loud to her! Or it was... Was he mumbling in his sleep? And, even if it was that, it could only mean one thing... Was he _**dreaming**_ of her? He couldn't remember very clearly, but if she had learned those words, she had heard him say them! And, only the thought of this terrified him.

" _Just_ _ **what the hell**_ _is going on with me, anyway? O-of course, she's not... not ugly, she is... hum... acceptable... but..._ _ **how the hell**_ _did she learned the word "beautiful" and "eyes"? I don't remember saying them! B-but as it seems..."_  
He swallowed a lump on his throat and looked at her again, his face was so red that it seemed that all the blood from his body was all on his cheeks

" _...It seems I've..._ _ **said**_ _them at some point!"_  
He was terrified by this thought. _**Of course**_ he wasn't acting like his normal self. Something really wrong was going on with him that was for sure. He still remained silent, looking at the Native American girl with a mortified expression.

The girl was slightly blushed, playing a bit nervously with one of her small braids, occasionally looking up and towards him a bit shyly and she brushed some hair behind her ear.

"Emm...you..."  
Made the move of caressing her hair and pointed at him, telling him he had made this move to her.

'"Beautiful eyes..." emm...emm...'  
She was trying to remember exactly HOW he had said it down to the word and finally she put her thoughts in order.

'"You have beautiful eyes" emm... "You really are beautiful"...emm...say.'  
She looked at him in the eyes.

"That...hmm...what?"

"W-W-WHAT?"  
Now he wanted to bury himself in a hole and never come out again.

" _ **WHAT. HAVE. I. DONE?"**_  
He couldn't believe it. Or better, he didn't _**want**_ to believe he had actually... said that she had beautiful eyes and also said that she was beautiful! But worst of it all... was the gesture she made at him, as if she was saying that... he had _**caressed**_ her!

" _ **What in the world**_ _is going on? Are you punishing me for my sins, God? Is that what You are trying to do?"_  
He was completely baffled. That couldn't be happening! He tried to put his thoughts in order... The only way he could have done something so stupid as this would be if he were drunk or drugged. Drugged! Perhaps that was it! He remembered drinking something and then feeling strange afterwards. Now things were starting to make sense! But…but it was still embarrassing... He looked at the girl again, who as looking at him with a shy expression that was kinda... cute...

" _NO, NO, NO, NO! NOT THIS AGAIN!"_  
He shook all of the stupid thoughts from his head. Now his embarrassment had turned into anger. In order to stop with all this awkward thoughts, the only way was to let his anger take over him. Seth's eyes stared at Ishizu with fury, as if he was an angry cougar ready to attack.

"Forget it!" He snarled at her and crossed his arms in front of his chest, still looking at her with a furious expression

The girl seemed confused. So...was it a bad thing she had said? But it didn't seem like that. He had caressed her. She didn't know the White Men but in her world, touching someone with so much care meant that someone actually cared as well. Maybe the milk of the poppy was making him hallucinating. Yes, perhaps he thought she was someone else...  
But then again...milk of the poppy brings out some strange behavior but not from something that wasn't there. Milk of the poppy wasn't making you seeing visions. Just be a little...hmm...different. Did it affect White People differently than it did to her and her people?  
It was obvious that the man wasn't comfortable talking to her about it so perhaps it was something really embarrassing what he was saying...but his words...his look...

" _Beautiful..."_  
He was looking at her like once someone was looking at her years ago. It was a boy and she was a girl. He had confessed to her that he liked her. Seth's eyes had the same expression. Drugged or no drugged the girl knew what she saw. She thought about it for a second. Ishizu was never a proud woman...or arrogant but the last time she looked her image into the lake's water, she was fine and not bad... Maybe...yes there was no other explanation!  
Could it be that "beautiful" meant, "good looking"? Many people of her village had praised her for her appearance. She smiled triumphantly cause she actually got what he wanted to say. It was as if her heart's instinct was enough for her.  
She looked at the man who seemed stubborn. She knew (for some reason she knew in her heart) that he wouldn't hurt her. Drugged or no drugged, she felt the need to return his...kind words.  
She sat by him on the small mattress and her hand cupped his cheek tenderly, caressing his cheekbone with her thumb.

"Beautiful..." She said to him, looking him in the eyes. Dark blue lost in icy blue.

Seth felt for a moment as if a freeze ray had paralyzed him and turned him into a statue. Her touch sent shivers down his spine and made his stomach freeze. He felt a heat wave through his whole body as he stared into her dark blue eyes. For a moment, the world beyond the two of them ceased to exist. He imagined himself plunged into the deep immensity of her eyes and getting lost forever in them.  
His heart was beating so fast that he was afraid it would explode inside his chest. An emotion impossible to contain was building inside him. His structured thoughts were spinning out of control. His breath failed and his face burned as his eyes came down from her eyes to her lips.  
She was already attractive in itself. She was the kind of woman he would feel attraction for. Seth never felt attracted by saloon girls, who always wore tons of make-up and provocative clothes. He always preferred simple women, who didn't need lots and lots of make-up to look beautiful. He had a few affairs with some ranch girls once, especially on his teenage years and in the start of his adult life, but he had never been affected by a woman that way before and it was disturbing.  
But before he could do something stupid, he regained his consciousness and moved abruptly from her, his eyes burning with rage.

"Get away from me."  
He didn't yell, however, he said it with such anger in his voice, that his behavior was like that of a wolf, snarling at an alleged threat.

For a second she was taken aback and stood up. She only wanted to return the favor; for sure his touch was pleasant to her. He was beautiful and women of her tribe would say otherwise because of fear mostly. She had never felt attraction to anyone before. Despite being in her late teens, she had never had he chance to meet a man like this. Men from her tribe had shown interest in her and she knew it but she had never returned it. It didn't matter after all.  
She knew that her brother would desire her to marry one of the strong warriors of her village and have good and healthy children and continue the Chief's legacy. She was always imagining herself like this and no other fate came to her mind. The idea of marrying someone else besides someone from her tribe never crossed her mind  
However now here she was, in the same tent with an unknown man, from an unknown place, of unknown race who spoke an unknown to her language but for the first time she felt like fighting for it. For the first time she felt like it was worth thinking about such a future. But this man seemed annoyed. Angry. Uncomfortable.  
She wanted to apologize but didn't know the words. She had made him feel uncomfortable before...  
She looked away rubbing her forearm like a child that was scolded for going to the forest alone without an escort.

"I'm sorry..."

She said in her language not being able to think any word of those the man has been teaching her to express her feelings.

"I didn't mean to offend you... I'm sorry..."

He just grunted and rolled his eyes in annoyance. By her reaction, it was clear that she was sorry for what just happened and he was still feeling uncomfortable with the sensations she just made him experience. But he couldn't help but to feel a little sorry for her, although he was trying as hard as he could to deny that fact.

"Whatever." He replied in a rude tone and crossed his arms in front of his chest

Ishizu looked up and brushed some hair behind her ear.

Seth felt his cheeks blushing by her reaction. He couldn't stop thinking about what he did. He had called her _beautiful_ while _caressing_ her! He was drugged, sure, but that still meant something. As he stared at her, he couldn't deny the fact that she was, indeed beautiful. He had to admit to himself that never, in his whole life, he had met a woman like her. But he couldn't be thinking about those things now! He had a task to accomplish. He wanted _so badly_ his revenge against Giovanni and his gang. That was the most important thing on his mind. He couldn't be thinking about women in a moment like this, he had to focus on his revenge and nothing more. Once he get better, he would be leaving this village and this girl forever, so it was pointless to think about these stupid things right now.  
He looked away from her, as a way to stop himself from thinking such foolish thoughts.

Smiled at him but still a question remained unanswered.

"Emm..." she seemed to be hesitating for a second, '"Eyes"...what...?'

He raised his eyes at her again, his face still flushed from embarrassment.

" _Well, I guess it won't hurt to answer this one. I've already made a mess, anyway."_  
He took a deep breath and looked into her eyes. He then touched the skin below his eyes and blinked slowly a few times.

"Eyes." He said, and then repeated the gesture for her to understand

Ishizu was watching him really carefully. She shook her head and pointed at her eye.

"Eyes?"

"Yes, eyes." He nodded and repeated the gesture again; to make sure she would understand

"Eyes" she repeated and nodded, "Eyes"

"Yes...hum... Good."  
It was the closest he came to a compliment. He was still feeling embarrassed about what just happened and it was clear from his face that he wasn't feeling comfortable. He looked at her again and suddenly remembered about what she did just a few minutes ago. The way she touched his face, the way her eyes stared at him, the way she said the word _"beautiful"_ to him while looking into his eyes...

" _No, wait! Just WHAT THE HELL am I thinking?"_  
He immediately pushed all of this stupid thoughts from his mind. What was the matter with him, anyway? He felt his heart jump inside his chest. He needed to put his thoughts in order! Why had she done that? Then suddenly a thought crossed his mind.

" _What if she thinks that I..."_  
He gasped at the thought, although, it didn't seem so absurd. After all, he had _caressed her_ and called her _beautiful_. What if she thinks that he _liked_ her? He never really understood women's mind, but the way she did the same gesture to him... Did she _like_ him? Of course that wouldn't be unusual. Seth lost count of how many women had shown interest on him, but still... just the thought of that made him feel nervous, although he didn't understood why. So what if she liked him? Many women liked him already. So why should he care now?

" _Grrr... I'm feeling so stupid right now!"_ He scolded himself again for thinking such foolish thoughts.

She smiled to him lightly but for the first time in her life she felt that way being with a man. In her village men and women lived in a small place so it was only natural for her being circled by men especially since she was a shaman and also the Chief's sister.  
Many men would come to her to heal them or explain their dreams or ask her Master for advice while she was with them. She had cooked for men and she had fixed their clothes, she had rode by their side occasionally and occasionally accompanied them into hunting but for the first time she felt like this.  
In the beginning she hadn't noticed because she was focused at helping him and healing him because of what he represented for her and in her dream but now she had noticed it was the first time it felt so right being with someone. She had him in her tent and she didn't feel the slightest fear or uneasiness. On the contrary it felt so right being with him, so right looking in his eyes...so right seeing his mood-swings... She didn't care...  
She approached him slowly and knelt beside him. She pointed at the bandage around his waist. She needed to change it. The cauterization had happened a few hours earlier so she needed to check if the wound was already infected and put a clear bandage. It was like asking his permission. The wound to his leg was already better. She had checked it while he was asleep but this wound...this was a different story...

Seth was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice when she approached him, so he was startled when she saw her standing next to him. He saw her pointing at the bandage around his waist and understood what she wanted to say. He swallowed a lump on his throat and sighed.

" _There she goes, again..."_  
He rolled his eyes and straightened his body to let her do her job, but this time he was even more nervous than the previous times. Perhaps it was because of the embarrassing moment he had with her a few minutes ago and also because of his suspicion of her liking him. He tried to ignore these thoughts as hard as he could, but his body wouldn't listen to him, for his displeasure, and he could feel his heart racing inside his chest.

She slowly and carefully started removing the bandage, just in case it got stuck to his wound because of the body fluids that came out of his wound. When she finally removed it she reveals the wound.  
It was not a pleasant sight. The wound is a burn mark now and it has stitches all around it. No matter how carefully she had tried to stitch it, the threads were more than visible and the flesh was twisted and a mixture of red and yellow and black at the small spot she had burnt with the metal to stop the bleeding.

For a moment, he stopped thinking about all of those stupid and meaningless things and looked at his own body, to check the gravity of his wounds.

"Damn... It doesn't look good..."  
He sighed in annoyance. If it weren't for his stubbornness, he wouldn't be on that situation. He should have been more careful while planning his revenge. He looked at the girl again, as if asking her what she was going to do next, without the need for using words.

The girl slowly nodded her head as if to reassure him it's okay. She took the mush of herbal plants she had made earlier and started carefully applying it to the wound, softly; to make sure she wouldn't hurt him.

When she started to apply the herbal mush, he felt his wound burning a little and he groaned in pain and flinched by reflex.

She gasped and looked up apologetically.

He took a deep breath and tried to relax. He didn't want to look weak in front of her. Oops! He corrected his thoughts: He didn't _like_ to look weak in front of anyone, let alone her. It didn't mattered what she thought of him. Why would he bother? He rolled his eyes again, as a way to ignore these stupid thoughts.

She finished placing some herbal leaves upon the wound and started wrapping it with new bandage. She finished slowly yet carefully. She looked up at him and she remembered the words he had used when he apologized to her.

"I...I'm s-...sorry..." she struggled to remember the word

He blinked a few times. It was a surprise to him that she had actually remembered the words he had tried to use to apologize to her.

"Huh... It's alright..." He replied, still feeling a little uncomfortable.

" _Why am I feeling so stupid like this? Damn!"_  
And then suddenly, he made a grumpy face again, and grunted in annoyance. He was really irritated with himself and all of these stupid, weird feelings.

But then to his surprise...the girl brought her fist to her mouth...in order to hide her giggle!

He arched an eyebrow, confused.

"What's so funny?"

He knew she couldn't really understand his words, but it was clear by his expression that he was confused by her sudden reaction.

She couldn't explain it but it was kind of funny face he made at that moment. She couldn't answer the question but looked up at his face with her own smiling one like a normal schoolgirl of West instead of an unknown Indian woman.

He grimaced at her and rolled his eyes in annoyance, although, he couldn't help but to blush a little by her reaction, which made him even more annoyed.

" _Women... I will NEVER understand them!"_

He grunted in annoyance, again.

She smiled once more and stood up to pick up the empty bowl that used to have fruits. She then offered him a flask of water.

He took the flask of water without saying anything and drank all the water inside it. When he finished, he wiped his mouth with his arm and extended the flask back to her, but he was still speechless.

She took it back and nodded her head in a thanking. She realized that maybe he would want to be alone for now so she only touched his hand to reassure him that she would be there if he needed her and she got up and walked out of the tent to leave him alone with his thoughts for a second.

* * *

When she left the tent, he sighed in relief

"Thank goodness! Finally some time alone!"  
He then lied down again, staring at the tent's ceiling. He couldn't understand why he was feeling such strange and awkward sensations whenever that girl was near him. He never felt anything like that for a woman before, and that was _**so annoying**_. He didn't know what that feeling was, but surely, it wasn't something that pleased him. In fact, it only made him feel annoyed and stupid. Just what the hell was wrong with him, anyway? He had only one objective on his mind: to find that bastard Giovanni and kill him for everything he had done. He couldn't let anything distract him from this objective.  
And also, he was a lone wolf. He never needed anyone. Everything he once loved, was taken away from his life. Love was a meaningless thing for him now. Why would he love someone just to lose them in some tragic way afterwards? He had learned the hard way that the best thing was to be alone, so he wouldn't suffer anymore like he had already suffered. He decided to isolate himself from everyone because that was the best decision for him, and he was pretty convinced of that.

"So, You are testing me, aren't you, God? Fine. Let's see who will win this game, but I can assure You, I'm no easy opponent."  
He said to himself, as he stared at the tent's ceiling. He was sure that God was playing with him, like He always did. He believed that God always thought it was fun to mess with his life.

"I'm fine by myself. I always was. I don't need anyone. You'll see, God... I will take my revenge and I will go back to being another lonely gunslinger. I'm not a weak child anymore."  
He took a deep breath and then closed his eyes, still lost in his thoughts. As time passed, he slowly began to fall asleep.

The night came and passed. And soon came the morning...

* * *

 **FINALLY I managed to post this chapter! Sorry I was so late!**

 **Well...the chapter says it all! Time for Seth McLeach to feel the ultimate power of EMBARASSEMENT when wakes up before the**  
 **consequences of his actions during his drugged state! XD  
**

 **Okay I hope you like it cause our dear Seth will have TONS of moments like this when he is with Ishizu!**

 _Seth McLeach_ AnaPaolaDBZ

 _Ishizu_ katerinaaqu

 **Please do not claim or steal this art/story/plot without OUR permission! Thank you**


	8. No Touch!

Seth hadn't slept so peacefully like the previous times. Like he usually did, he had a nightmare. But this time, he hadn't dreamed about being killed from behind while facing his own father. It was a different nightmare. He had dreamed about the day he was taken from the orphanage by Giovanni's gang. He was still a little child, so he didn't understand what was happening that time. He could only remember the look of terror in the nuns' faces when they saw Giovanni and his gang arriving. The nuns tried to hide him from them in a small room. He had heard screams. And then suddenly, he heard sister Anna's voice shouting;

"You're NOT going to take him!"

"He's my SON! I will take him, whether you want to or not."

"His mother left him here so you would never put his hands on him!"

"His mother was a whore! She betrayed me! She deserved her destiny! And now I will take what is rightfully mine."

"Over my dead body!"

The man then laughed.

"As you wish, sister."

And then he heard a shot. He heard the other nuns scream in agony. And then a large, strong man entered the small room he was in.

"Now come with me, my son..."  
He was too young, and he was afraid. He didn't understand what was happening. And then the man took him by the hand and led him to his horse, taking him away from the orphanage, and everything he once knew as home.

* * *

He woke up startled and sweating. He looked around him, as if trying to see for himself that all of that was just a dream. He sighed in relief as soon as he realized he just had a nightmare. But, unfortunately, it wasn't just a nightmare; it was something that really happened. He let out a small tear escape from his eyes, but soon he wiped it out with his hands. He wasn't going to cry anymore. The past was in the past. He wasn't a weak child anymore.  
When he was fully recovered from his nightmare, he looked around him again. Suddenly, he felt a irrational need to see the Indian girl again, as if seeing her would take away all of this horrible feelings. But when he noticed this, he immediately tried to shake these thoughts from his head.

" _Damn, damn, damn! What am I thinking? I'm not that weak, afraid child anymore! I don't need her! I don't need anyone else in my life!"_  
He put his hands on his head, trying to put his thoughts in order.

No sooner after he made this thought and the silence had surrounded him for a little and the only sounds he could hear were the sounds of the waking up village (women talking, men fixing or making weapons, children starting to play and their mothers calling to them) and also sounds of birds from a forest a few yards away from the village.  
Then the curtain of the entrance was pulled back and she came in. Ishizu was fresh like morning, as if she had washed her hair somewhere, the night before. In her arms she was holding a small pack of clothes and over them some bread meat on it.  
She saw him awake and smiled to him, sunlight falling over her caramel skin and her raven hair and making her dark blue eyes look like gems or shining glass. She smiled at him once more and headed next to his bed. She placed the food and the small pack aside and placed her hand on his forehead to check on his temperature.  
Smiled as she saw that his forehead was cool, despite the sweat on it. Perhaps he was having a hard dream again. After all, he was attacked by his own people. Perhaps it was terrifying for him...Ishizu didn't know.  
She smiled at him and offered him the food.

"Hungry?" asked sweetly giving him the bread

When she entered the tent, Seth couldn't help but feel his heart racing when he saw her. She was looking so beautiful today... Her pure black hair was shining, as if she had washed it and the way the sunlight was illuminating her made her even more beautiful. Her dark blue eyes sparkled like gems and he felt his face burning in return.  
When she approached him and touched his forehead, it was like all of his senses were out of control. This made him feel _**so irritated.**_ He tried to shake all of the stupid thoughts from his head. He then looked at her and at the bread she was giving him and he took the food with his hands and let out a grunt, a little annoyed by all the strange sensations she was making he feel again.

She smiled softly. Sunlight and smile suited him better than darkness. This man seemed like a Spirit, like her... She could only watch him while he ate. She gathered up the things. She checked his wounds like always and she smiled satisfied when she saw that the swollen part was better. She bent to the side and then unfolded the pack of clothes. His old clothes were washed in the river so the bloodstains were off.  
The hole from the bullets were all stitched and closed. Apparently she had stitched them.  
She spread them at the ground next to him and smiled to him. She then gestured towards the exit of the tent with her head.

"Out" she said softly, "Emm... today...out"  
She could see the man was suffocating in the tent all day and for sure his wounds needed to be cleaned as well. Wounds wouldn't get any better only with rest. He would also need fresh air and cleaning and from the smell his body had, she was sure he hadn't properly cleaned his body for days... He probably needed it. She smiled to him again.

He looked up at her, surprised by her words.

"Really...?"

He looked at his clothes that were now unfolded, as if he still wasn't believing what she was saying.

She saw doubt in his eyes and more of this than the word itself she understood so she nodded her head once with a smile.

"Today...out go" she repeated

Finally, Seth let go of his typical grumpy behavior and let out a smile. The possibility of leaving that tent, even for a short walk, was a relief to him. After all, he was so tired of being stuck in that tent, just eating, sleeping and... Having **awkward** moments with Ishizu... But still, he was still feeling somewhat uneasy. Her tribe didn't trust him. He was a little afraid to meet the Chief again. He knew Ishizu was on his side for some unknown reason but he was still uncomfortable with the possibility of meeting the Chief again, or someone close to him. But his desire of leaving that tent was bigger than his fear, however. So what if he met the Chief? As long as Ishizu was with him, he knew she wouldn't let anyone hurt him. It was weird, of course, to depend on her, but that was the only thing he could do. After all, she had the trouble to save him and take care of him and she was the only one on this village who didn't seemed afraid of him, on the contrary, she trusted him way **too much** for his liking. But it didn't matter now, anyway.  
He stood up, with some difficulty; after all, he had only been sitting and lying for these past few days. The wounds were still hurting a little, but he chose to ignore the pain. He grabbed his clothes and started to wear them.

Ishizu had immediately jolted up to her feet to help him stand and help him put his shirt on. She left the waistcoat and coat behind. She believed that Seth would need light clothes for now. Those heavy ones could wait for now. She supported him with her surprising strength but she knew that the man would probably feel uneasy being carried around by a woman so she gave him a walking stick smiling softly.  
Of course she would support him but only for the difficult parts and to make sure he would stand properly. She smiled again.

"Go?" asked him, as if asking him if he is ready for them to walk

"Alright, let's go." He said, nodding his head in response.

She smiled and led him slowly to the opening of the tent. Immediately after days, true sunlight showered over him.

* * *

The sunlight blinded him for a few seconds. When his vision was adjusted to the light, he could see children running and playing and their mother calling to them, women making crafts and some men coming back with their hunt. He also saw horses, which had paintings on their bodies. Some even had a small feather attached to their hair. He looked at the village with curiosity. He never really saw an Indian village from up close. Their way of life was unknown to him. Of course, he had heard horrible rumors about them being savage people and violent warriors, who liked to take the scalp of their enemies, but he never gave much attention to this kind of rumors. He also knew that many of these people were killed on the Civil War and even before that, when the British settlers arrived on the newly discovered continent. So he kind of understood their fear for the White People.  
He looked around, studying every detail of the village and the villagers, taking some notes on his mind about the Indians' way of life. He was planning to write them down on his diary later. He always liked to write about new things he had learned along his journeys, it was a habit for him since he was a young teenager.

Ishizu smiled seeing him looking around and tried to help him walk. They walked among countless tents. Suddenly a pure-white mere appeared behind some tents. She was like a shining angel in the sunlight. She didn't have a saddle or anything but she seemed well fed and healthy and also clean and lively. Obviously she was taken good care of.  
Once the mere recognized her master, lifted her ears and walked there. She reached him and placed her nose to his chest softly as if saying "good morning".

Seth smiled when the mare approached him.

"Hey, Kisara! Good to see you too, girl!" He said as he caressed the mare's nose softly.

For a moment, he didn't even seem like that stubborn, arrogant man from before. It was clear, by the look on his eyes that he cared deeply for his horse companion.

Ishizu was watching them smiling. She had taken care of the mere personally and she was really satisfied to see her meeting again with her master. But also...her heart was beating in her chest seeing this side of his coming to the surface...there, showered in he warm sunlight.

The mare started to stir his hair with her lips playfully, and he was caressing her hair and laughing.

"Hey, stop with this, girl! You're messing up my hair!" He said between laughs.

He seemed like a boy, playing with his mare.

Ishizu couldn't help herself and giggled a little at this. They indeed were a great couple as partners…she could see that.

The man looked back at the Indian girl and felt his cheeks blushing. Now he was feeling embarrassed because she had seen him playing with his mare like a young boy, and that was a side of him he rarely showed. So he stopped caressing the mare and turned back to Ishizu with his typical annoyed face.

She kept her smile. She saw his face-change. She shook her head slightly as if she couldn't believe him! Why is this White Man denying what he truly is in his heart? Just because she is with him?  
In any case she came closer and she started walking, showing him to follow her.

He followed her again, watching the village as he passed by. He could see the fear in the villagers' eyes when he passed through them. He felt somewhat uncomfortable with this. He wasn't even armed and yet, they would still fear him. He tried to ignore this, however. He was still curious about them, so he was observing cautiously the village and studying every detail on his mind.

* * *

She led him somewhere outside the village and then, the warmth came to his body. Soon he saw where she was leading him. It was a hot spring. She showed him the water and smiled.

He looked at the water and them at her, with his brow furrowed. What was she planning? Did she want him to _**take a bath**_ in front of her? He felt his face burning by the thought. He decided to ask her, instead of just guessing what she wanted from him.

"What?" He looked at her with doubt in his eyes

She smiled, not really understanding the reason he asked and she nodded her head before going to the other side of the rocks where the mere was, away from his optical field.

When she walked away, he sighed in relief. At least, she wasn't going to **watch** him taking a bath. He then, began to undress himself and entered in the hot water. The warmth penetrated in his skin and he felt his muscles relaxing. He also felt his wounds burning, but he tried to ignore the pain. He let the water flow through his body, his fingers running from his hair to his shoulders, as the water spread to his body. It was refreshing to be finally taking a bath after all these days spent in the desert, chasing after Giovanni.

Nature was calm all around. Birds could be heard and also sounds of the forest close by...

Occasionally, he would look around him, observing the nature around him. It was a beautiful sight, indeed. For a moment, he felt like he could stay in that place for the rest of his life, just relaxing and feeling the nature around him. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a while, just relaxing in the hot water.  
After some time, he finally finished his bath and came out of the water. He dressed himself again, except for his shirt, because he would need Ishizu's help (and he really hated to admit that) and he walked to a spot illuminated by sunlight.

Ishizu was taking care of the white mere but once the snow-white snow felt her master, she ran at him making happy noises. Ishizu saw him approaching and smiled. She walked to him as well and caressed Kisara's back.

"Kisara...? Name?" she asked smiling softly.

Then she thought of it for a second, cause she wasn't sure if the word was used only for physical appearance or for other things as well but she finally decided and said.

"Beautiful"

When Kisara approached him, he caressed the mare's hair softly, a small smile appearing on his face. When he heard Ishizu speaking, he looked at her. He was surprised to see that she was learning fast how to speak his language.

"Yes. Kisara is her name." He spoke, as he softly caressed the mare's hair.

His cheeks became a light shade of red when he heard Ishizu say the word "beautiful." It still reminded him of the embarrassing moment she had learned that word, but he tried not to think about this anymore.

"It's a beautiful name, indeed..."  
He just nodded, in affirmation and continued to stroke the mare's hair.

"Beautiful name..." she repeated smiling.

She looked at the beautiful mere and then her master. She loved to watch him in the middle of the day, showered in golden sunlight while droplets of water would sparkle on him like diamonds.

"Good?" she asked pointing towards the hot springs as if asking him if it was good, for she couldn't make a better phrase yet

He saw her pointing at the hot springs and understood what she meant to say.

"Hum... Yes, it was good." He said, looking in the direction of the hot springs.

He then looked back at her, and for a moment, he let go of his normally grumpy attitude.

"Thank you... for bringing me here." He said softly, looking at her with his ice-cold blue eyes, that seemed like two precious gems sparkling in the sunlight

She remained still for a second. She wasn't mistaken. This was the man that was meant to save her village! She could see the fire within his frozen eyes... But also she could feel the fire inside her heart. It was far more than just admiration or gratefulness for the good thing he would do in the future. She knew this man was something more to her...  
Every time she changed his bandages, every time she took his clothes off to check his wounds while he was unconscious and finally THAT very precious moment when he clanged on her like a baby to its mother, asking for her help in his burning fever was the moment Ishizu had felt it was the one she was made for.  
Ishizu was a woman that had learnt not to hide her emotions. After all people of her race were different than White Men. She couldn't understand why a person would deny his feelings and his true personality. Now she wanted to feel useful to him once more, but more than anything she wanted to see his smile again, see his sweet and charming smile. She hated seeing this angry face all the time, the face that was making her heart flatter in worry that she had done something wrong! She wanted to see him happy and that was all that it mattered to her.  
Her cheeks took some color as she imagined him living with her forever, even if she knew he couldn't. Perhaps he was annoyed with her after all. Perhaps he just couldn't wait till his wounds healed so he could get out of her village and get back to his previous life...a life of killing and sorrow... This thought, for some reason filled her with sadness...  
Ishizu softly approached him with small steps and never stopping looking at his eyes and when she came closer she took his hand and raised it to her lips and kissed it. She had learnt to show her affection, live the moment. This was her own way of telling him "thank you" in advance for what he was about to do or expressing her own gratefulness for having him there, with her, even if he probably didn't like it.

The moment she took his hand and kissed it, Seth froze. He felt that feeling again, that same feeling when she had caressed him in the tent. That warm sensation took over his whole body and he felt shivers run down his spine. His heart has started beating fast and his face now was as red as a cherry berry. His eyes were widened in surprise as he watched her.

" _What on earth is she doing?"_  
He gulped, in nervousness. For a moment, he was paralyzed, like he was frozen by a freeze ray, his thoughts spinning inside his head. These weird sensations were taking over him again, and he couldn't let them! Instinctively, he pulled his hand back and moved away from her. He wanted to yell, he wanted to snarl at her, but he couldn't. The yell was stuck in his throat. He remembered the sad look on her face when he yelled at her in the cave and how it made him feel bad. She had taken care of him, she had lead him to this place so he could leave that tent where he was feeling suffocated, to take a proper bath, and, above all things, she had saved his life. If it weren't for her, he would be lying dead in the desert by now. So, it didn't felt right to yell at her, especially in a moment like this. So he only turned his back to her, so he wouldn't see her face.

"No." He said after a moment of silence, his voice almost like a whisper.

He said it as a way to reprimand her, but in a soft way.

She looked kind of surprised by his reaction, or the fact that he turned around right away. She had understood "no" but what did it mean? Did it mean he didn't like being touched in general? That she was bothering him?  
She looked on the right with her eyes lowered rubbing her arm.

"Oh..." she said, "S-Sorry..."

He heard her apologize, but he still didn't want to look at her face. He was afraid he was going to feel bad for her again. However, he still felt something tightening his chest, even without looking at her.

" _Damn! Why the hell am I feeling this way? I've never felt bad for anyone before. So why am I feeling bad now? What is wrong with me?"_  
He couldn't understand all of these awkward feelings. His thoughts were jumbled inside his head and he was feeling so confused right now and this made him feel angry with himself. He was feeling so _foolish_.  
And what on Earth was she doing? He touched his hand on the spot she had kissed it. It seemed his skin was getting warmer on that spot and he felt his heart racing when he remembered the sensation of her soft lips touching his skin... But immediately, he shook all of these thoughts from his head before he could start having even more awkward thoughts.

" _What the hell is wrong with me?"_  
He was so angry with himself for feeling this way. Obviously there was something wrong with him, but he couldn't understand what it was. But one thing he was sure: the Indian girl _**liked**_ him and he wasn't feeling comfortable with that idea. He sighed deeply and turned back to her, his eyes staring at her again.

"Just... Just don't touch me again. Do not touch. No touch."  
When he said the word "touch" he gestured, touching his own arm, to show her what that word meant. He then repeated the gesture.

"No touch."

"Touch..."  
She repeated and extended her arm to him but the last moment she drew it back before doing anything else.

"Yes...no touch..." she whispered slightly but inside her head she couldn't understand it.

Why did White People make things so complicated? In her village when someone liked a girl the only thing he had to do was to talk to her. If they wanted her as a wife they only needed to ask her hand from her father or if the father wasn't alive, her older brother or any other male that was supposed to be protecting her. She wasn't sure why but it was almost obvious to her that this man liked her.  
She didn't know if she liked her like...a future wife or anything but when he had looked at her so tenderly...yes he was under the influence of the poppy but his eyes were sincere. And the one moment he seemed sweet and happy and the other he was pushing her away as if she had offended him. Was he married? Perhaps that would be the case... Perhaps he liked her and he felt guilty because there was a wife in the middle...or maybe he was given to someone, waiting to be married...  
Many thoughts passed through her mind but none of them made sense to her. In her village everything was true, simple and clean. This man was only hiding. Hiding, hiding and more hiding. Denying everything and even if he didn't appear being ungrateful to her, sometimes he treated her like an annoying bug he would prefer not to have in his tent and the other he was looking at her with care...  
He was so tender with his horse, Kisara, but with her... Didn't he trust her? After what she had done for him he didn't trust her? Or he didn't trust himself or his feelings...  
A dark stallion appeared to the edge of the river and the white mere raised her head and ears. Ishizu smiled and whistled with her fingers. The stallion came to her and placed his hose to her back for her to pet him, which she did.

"Mahaado"

She said to him smiling a small smile as if she wanted to prove to him it was alright the way he treated her...

"Mahaado"

Seth saw that she understood what he meant, but even so, he was feeling awkward. He was supposed to feel relieved that she had understood that he didn't want to be touched by her, but instead, he was feeling nervous and he didn't know why. Was it because of the... kiss from earlier? He gasped at the thought. The way she kissed his hand so tenderly only confirmed what he had previous guessed: that she was liking him. This thought was making him feel nervous, anxious, confused, but most of all, he was feeling so foolish. What was the matter with him anyway? So what if she was liking him? Why did it should bother him? Many other girls had liked him before. He had liked some of them too, even though he never really wanted to get too attached to them, but he never felt this way for a woman before. He was feeling somehow vulnerable and this didn't please him.  
He was trying hard to ignore his nervousness, but he couldn't help but feel his cheeks blushing as he stared back at her and this only made things even more awkward for him. He didn't know what to do now.  
And then, suddenly, he saw a dark stallion appear from the edge of the river and run to Ishizu's side. He saw her petting the horse and heard her say "Mahaado". Apparently, it was her horse's name.

"Mahaado..."  
He repeated, and then caressed the horse's hair with his hand.

"So... Mahaado is his name, right? Huh... That's... nice, huh... nice name, I mean..." He said, a little hesitant.

He couldn't understand why he was feeling so nervous towards her and that was making him so irritated with himself.

"Nice...?"  
She calculated in her mind. He was only half-smiling so the word "nice" should be something good. Perhaps it was something like "beautiful" so he was complimenting her horse's name. She smiled and nodded.

"Nice. Nice name..." She repeated, "It...is...hmm...a nice name..."  
Smiled softly and petted her horse's neck. The dark stallion came closer to him to smell his hair. Ishizu giggled and for a second she resembled the young girl she was and not the mature way she was acting while treating him.

"He trusts..." she repeated like she had said in the cave, "He trusts...you..." she finally found the way to finish her previous sentence.

"Oh... I see..." He said, as he continued to pet the horse's hair.

He was a beautiful animal, indeed. Seth always had a way with horses. They were the only living things he really trusted. After all, a horse couldn't deceive or tell lies, or kill people for fun, like Giovanni and his gang usually did. He let out a small smile as he petted the horse's hair and neck softly.

"He's beautiful..." He said after a moment of silence.

"Mhm!" Ishizu nodded again smiling.

She then took his shirt from him and held it up for him, showing to him that she would help him to put it on if he wanted. He was still a little bit of wet so she didn't want him to fall sick or anything.

A cold breeze made Seth shiver. He didn't want to have another fever. Only God knew what he would do near Ishizu if he weren't in his right mind. He had already clinkered to her in his fever and he had caressed her when he was drugged. What would be his next embarrassing act towards her? He didn't even want to think about it. So he decided it would be better to dress himself again, so he wouldn't get cold. He sighed deeply and turned to her to let her help him put on his shirt.

She helped him wear it over his shoulders and place his arms in the sleeves.

Seth wore his shirt with Ishizu's help, but he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed by being closer to her... After dressing his shirt, he made sure to walk a few steps away from her so he wouldn't have time to feel more awkward sensations. He then looked back at her with his icy-blue eyes.

"Huh... Thank you..." He said to show his gratefulness for her helping him dress his shirt, but he tried to avoid looking too much at her.

He was still feeling awkward because of what happened a few minutes ago, but he was trying as hard as he could to hide his embarrassment from her and from himself.

"You're...welcome..."

She said walking beside him as they started walking back to the tent.

* * *

 **FINALLY after so many weeks I found the inspiration to make the next chapter of this from mine and** AnaPaulaDBZ **'s western roleplay! Sorry guys it took me so long!**

 **So yeah...not much to say for this! Just that Seth FINALLY had a bath himself! and a small walk in fresh air for sure. Also the two of them showed each other their horses and yes Ishizu gets all the closer to Seth without Seth knowing it!**

 **I and hope you enjoy our roleplay/story so far!**  
 **Also (personal thing) yesterday night I started reading my first western novel named** _**"The Tall Stranger"**_ **by** _Luis L'amour_ **and by some satanic coincidence the protagonist has SO many common things with Seth that it is scary!**

 **Anyway we hope you like it! Also please visit** AnaPaulaDBZ **'s gallery (On DA) for her art. My Partner In Crime has some wonderful artwork pieces in her gallery also based off our three roleplays and stories (Western, Egyptian, Medieval)**

Seth McLeach _\- AnaPaulaDBZ_

Ishizu - _katerinaaqu_

Kisara - _AnaPaulaDBZ / katerinaaqu_

 **Please do not claim or steal this art/story/plot without OUR permission! Thank you**


	9. What saves a life & small light of hope

He walked beside her, but remained quiet all the time. He was still struggling with himself in his own mind.

" _I'm not going to let her affect me again. I'm the most fearless bounty hunter in the West, I can't be affected that way by a woman I don't even know anything about. Sure, I'm grateful she saved my life, but that's all. She's nothing more than that. She can't_ _ **be**_ _more than that! She can't even speak my language properly, for God's sake!"_  
He was thinking to himself as he walked back to the village. That girl couldn't mean anything more to him. She was from unknown people, who spoke an unknown language to him, who had a faith different from his own faith, and, to make things more complicated, her people didn't trust _**him**_. Even if he were... (He gasped at the thought) a bit _**interested**_ in her... - not that he was! It was only an assumption, right? - Even if he was... It could never work. He was a lone wolf, a bounty hunter, and she was from a world totally different from his.

She was walking beside him and occasionally taking glances as they were walking. The two horses were following from close by as if they were...talking to each other as well... As they reached her tent she opened it for him.

Seth entered the tent again and sat down on his mattress. He let out a deep sight. It was good to have left this place, even for a short moment. But he could feel his wounds aching again and he realized it was better to be back in the tent. His face writhed as pain took over him.

"Ishizu..." He called her name and pointed to his wounds, indicating to her that it was time to check on them.

Ishizu turned around at the sound of her name. It always sent strange shivers down her spine hearing her name coming from his lips. He had completely different accent than her people so the name sounded strange coming from his lips the way it did but not in a bad way... Seeing his pained expression made her realize.  
She immediately rushed to his side and started unwrapping the bandage.

When she came near him, he could feel a shiver ran down his spine. Her touch always gave him this kind of weird sensations, but he tried to ignore them, because now he was in pain, and he only wanted it to stop. He hated to admit to himself that he needed her help, but he didn't have a choice. He got only himself to blame, for being stupid enough as to get caught in an ambush and shot. He then took a deep breath and tried to remain calm as she unwrapped his bandages.

Ishizu was absolutely concentrated to her work as she unwrapped the bandage, taking care just in case it was plastered against his wound from the blood and fluids. When she removed it she checked at it and started placing the medicine on it.  
Luckily the swelling from the burning had started to ware off and so she also placed some herbal leaves on it. She then walked to the other corner of the room and started bringing clear bandages to wrap the wound with. She then checked on his shoulder and smiled. She had only patched the wound days ago but this shot had not been deep and barely had reached the bone, if she would take a guess. Luckily he had hard muscles. Hard enough to stop the bullet before causing damage.  
She slightly blushed at the thought. He indeed had the body of a warrior. Anyway, the girl thought, the wound had almost healed. It only needed one or two days and she could remove the patch!  
She smiled to him.

"Good. This, get good" she said as she placed some medicine on it, just a precaution, and started wrapping the bandage again.

The wound of his leg she knew it was better; she had checked it when he was unconscious from the poppy some hours ago. It should be alright. She finished wrapping the bandages and tied the knob to his shoulder carefully.

Seth didn't want to look at her while she did her work, out of fear of becoming embarrassed again, but just the feeling of her warm and delicate hands on his body had already made him shiver from nervousness. Every time she checked his wounds, these awkward sensations got even worse. He took a deep sight as he tried to ignore them, but it was too hard. Her touch was so pleasant that it seemed to ease the pain and this thought made his cheeks took an intense red color. Again, he tried to shake all this stupid thoughts from his head.  
Luckily for him, the medicine she applied made his wounds burn a little, so the pain helped him to stop thinking for a while.  
When she finished doing her job, he sighed in relief. Not only because the pain has ended, but also because his embarrassment was slowly fading. He then raised his eyes to her and said in a low tone.

"Thank you..."

She smiled at him softly.

"I am...sorry..." she apologized for hurting him

He arched his eyebrows at her.

"Sorry for what? You _**saved**_ my life. You..."

He stopped himself when he thought about it. She had _**saved**_ him when no one else would have done it. She helped him, totally ignoring the fact he was from a different race, a race that had killed thousands of her people in the past. This thought made him feel something warm inside his chest. Was it what it felt like to really feel grateful for someone? In his whole life, he only felt truly grateful towards the nuns who raised him in his childhood. Ishizu had done a lot for him...

" _No, no, no! Stop it! I can't let her dominate my thoughts like that! I... I don't need anyone else... I'm going to leave her once I get better to get my revenge on Giovanni and his gang! I... I think I'm just tired and that's why I'm feeling so confused. That's right. Just tired."_  
But as much as he tried, he couldn't get these thoughts from his head, that she made something for him that he never would expect from anyone, that he _**owed**_ her his life, and this made him feel so embarrassed and confused at the same time.

"Well... hmm... It's... alright, I guess..." He replied, awkwardly and turned his gaze away from her.

She looked up at him at his sudden response but she could feel tenderness in his voice.

'"Save"...? "Life"...?'  
Two new words for her. But she could feel their weight, their importance. For some reason being a Shaman made her be closer to things that had to do with life and death. So..."save" would mean...that? Maintaining life...

"Save..." she repeated smiling softly but then she shook her head negatively

"No..." she said, "You save...you save life..."  
She held his hand once more despite the fact she had said a few hours ago that she wouldn't touch him but she needed to show him what she meant.

"This...save..."

"What?"

He frowned in confusion. What was she saying? That _**he**_ was responsible for his own life? He couldn't get it.

"What do you mean?"  
He knew she wouldn't really understand his words precisely, but the look on his face showed how confused he was.

However the girl couldn't explain it well, not just yet. She needed to hear his language more, to learn to speak it better, before she would explain properly. She shook her head with a smile.  
Then her small hand touched the amulet around his neck. The small, silver cross hanging from a leather string to his neck. She had seen that he always had it there. She had heard of White People's faith but she had never seen something like this from up-close.

He saw her touching the cross he always wore around his neck. He guessed she was curious about what that meant. It would be hard to explain to her, though, since she had a faith different from his, but he still tried, anyway.

"God. Hmm... He saves us..."  
He pointed towards the sky; to symbolize that God was a divine entity above Earth. He didn't know if she would understand thought, but he was trying hard.

"God..." she looked up.

She knew it by his voice that it was something he respected too much. Like she respected the great Spirits around her. She looked back at him and nodded slightly.

"Yes, hmm... He saves..."

" _Although, most of the time, He likes to toy with my life instead."_  
It was the best he could say to her at the moment. Seth knew he would have some troubles trying to explain his religion to her, especially when she didn't know anything about his language and culture. He guessed it would be as hard for him to understand her religion and culture, although, he had heard about it a few times from Native Americans who could already speak his language. Then, suddenly, his eyes expressed his sorrow. Seth was a religious man, but everything bad that happened in his life he blamed God for it. It was like he was abandoned by Him, a long time ago. He had lost all hope in his life, but he thought, maybe, it was better this way. It was better for him not to have any hope than to have hope and then be disappointed in the future. He took a deep sight and looked down, as the memories of his tragic past came back to haunt him.

She noticed his expression saddening and looks at him. She seemed genuinely concerned about him.

Seth was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed Ishizu looking at him with concern. He didn't want to mourn about the past anymore. He had to look to the present. He was going to have his vengeance against the men who made him suffer in the past and then it would all be over. However, he would need to heal first. He sighed again, still looking down, feeling annoyed with himself.

Ishizu didn't really know what she should do at this occasion. There was only one thing she could think of...  
She leaned forward and hugged him softly, as if telling him it was alright and at the same time asking him what was wrong. Her embrace was warm and her hand caressed his brown hair softly.

Seth's eyes widened when she leaned forward and hugged him. He felt all his emotions going out of control. His heart was beating so fast that it seemed it would explode, his mind was spinning, all of his thoughts were jumbled inside his head and he was about to lose control of himself. Her body was so warm and her hand caressing his hair was so soft... He felt his whole body shiver by the contact. He couldn't even remember the last time he had a woman in his arms, and, for a moment, he felt tempted to wrap his arms around her and feel her next to him... But when this thought passed through his mind, he immediately shook it off his head and felt so angry at himself for even **having** this idea, even for barely a second.

" _WHAT. THE. HELL is wrong with me? No, no, no, no, I can't think like this! I REFUSE to have this thoughts! I don't need her, I don't need ANYONE else in my life anymore!"_  
He pulled away from her, abruptly, his cheeks burning in embarrassment. He was breathing fast, as if he had lost his breath. His eyes were still widened, in astonishment.

"W-what... what have I said about... about "NO TOUCH"?" He said, between deep breaths, however, this time, he seemed more nervous than angry.

He couldn't hide his embarrassment this time.

Ishizu noticed that he retreated from her and she felt like she has done something bad again but she noticed his blushing this time. He was embarrassed?! That was totally unexpected. He was a tall and strong man but still he acted uneasy in front of a young woman like this!?  
She smiled softly at him.

"Sorry." She said but this time she didn't sound sad.

Not like before.

Now Seth was confused. Was she _smiling_? Had she _noticed_ his embarrassment?

" _Damn, damn, damn! How could I let myself be so fool?"_  
He immediately tried to correct it by growling like a wild animal at her.

"Do not do this again. No touch! No!" he snarled, using his usual rude tone

Ishizu sighed once and nodded.

"Yes." she said

* * *

Seth was feeling annoyed. How dare she _**hug**_ him? Who did she think he was? What did she want from him?

" _If she thinks I'm going to fall in love with her just because she saved me, well, sorry to disappoint her, but that's_ _ **NOT**_ _going to happen. Hasn't she realized we're different? That her tribe doesn't like me? What does she wants from me, damn it!"_  
He couldn't understand why she had suddenly hugged him, but he was sure, since that awkward moment between them outside the tent where she kissed his hand so tenderly, that she liked him. Well, he never really understood how women's mind worked. Plenty of women had liked him already, but he wasn't the kind of man to keep relationships. He never wanted to get too deep in his relationships. He would only be with the girl for a short time, to distract himself from his problems for a while and then he would leave her. He always thought it was better this way, for himself and even for the girls he got involved with. But there were always some women who expected more from him: they wanted to marry him and having children. Just the thought of that always made Seth shudder. He couldn't imagine himself living a family life. He was alone in this world, he always was, and that fact was never going to be changed. And he never understood why women had such dreamy minds about romance. Romance, yuck! Such word never existed on Seth's dictionary. And it seemed that the more absurd and impossible to happen the relationship was, the more romantic it was for women. And the Native American girl in front of him didn't seemed much different that these dreamy women. So she could think that, by saving a complete stranger in the middle of the desert and taking care of his wounds would make him fall hopelessly in love with her, well, too bad for her, but Seth lived in the real world, where this things were impossible. And it was even more impossible because he was a White Man, and her tribe hated him. Couldn't she see that, damn it? Why women never used logic? Why they have to be so dreamy about life? He grunted in annoyance and rolled his eyes at her, clearly showing his irritation.

Ishizu kind of sighed. She could never understand the way White Men worked but she would never give up on trying anyway. The specific man acted like children in her village. Children that wanted to avoid something unpleasant or scary. She had seen children running away from their mother's embrace just because they wanted to pretend they grew up and didn't need them anymore.  
However Ishizu knew that they always came back. She could see that in this man right now. When this man would face an opponent he looked and acted like a warrior but when it had to come with a woman like herself, he would simply "panic" and start yelling. She felt herself want to chuckle at that.  
She realized she had come to know him better. She expected that he would react that way the moment she embraced him to comfort him. Ishizu, unlike most women in her village, didn't think much of marriage and having a family. She had focused too much on treating people and interpreting dreams that she never gave much of a thought on finding a husband. To her it simply went like this:  
If it was for her to find a husband, then fine, if not then fine once more.  
Even if she found herself feeling her heart flattering close to this man and she felt emotions she had never felt before. She could tell by the body reactions that he too wasn't at all "uninterested" in her, at least in a physical way. She could feel his heart beating faster every time she went closer to him to treat him and she had stopped interpreting his raise of temperature as coming back of his fever but yet she couldn't understand why would White Men act embarrassed by their emotions for a woman? Was it bad for them?  
Was this "God" of them forbidding them? Then how would they re-produce? No, that wouldn't be the case. Then why this specific man would simply deny things the way a child would do?  
She smiled a half-smile at this and simply walked away from him to go to the corner of her tent, as if nothing happened. As if she didn't care about his outburst or his previous emotional melancholy and she opened a small chest at the end of her room to take out a few herbs. She placed them in a bowl and kneeled by the fire, starting crushing them into a fine dust to make more medicine for her villagers; As if continuing her life without minding him being there.

Seth noticed how she suddenly walked away and continued to do her thing as if he wasn't there. Somehow this made him feel annoyed, but he didn't know why. Why would he be annoyed by her ignoring him? It was all that he wanted, after all! He wanted a time of peace for himself to re-organize his thoughts and emotions after that... **embarrassing** hug she gave him moments ago... Just the thought of that made his whole body shiver. It was like he could still feel her delicate, warm arms around him, feeling her heartbeat so close to his while she gently caressed his hair so softly...  
No, no, no! He couldn't _**think**_ like that! What was the matter with him, anyway? He tried to put his thoughts in order. It had been a long time since he had a woman in his arms... Perhaps he was just missing the sensation of having a woman with him and his body was clearly showing this. Perhaps that's why he was feeling so awkward near this girl! But he didn't want to think about women in a moment like this. All he wanted now was revenge against his father and the men who betrayed him. Women weren't important right now. He could have all the girls he wanted after that, but now it wasn't time for that! He sighed in relief after finally figuring out what was wrong with him, but it didn't make him feel at all relaxed. He was still annoyed with himself. How could his body betray him in a moment like this? Damn woman with her wonderful beauty and charm!

" _God is testing me with the Seven Deadly Sins. First it was Wrath and now it is Lust? Ha ha. Very funny. What will be next? Pride?"_  
He grunted in annoyance and rolled his eyes. He needed to distract himself to stop thinking about this. He got up to search for his pouch with his things. Maybe he needed to write a diary to keep himself sane in this unknown (to him) world, with unknown people and an unknown culture.

Ishizu was slightly blowing the fire to light it up more. The creaking sound of flames was accompanied by the sound of her working, crushing her herbs, mixing them with water and other ingredients in order to make a cream for later. She had in mind have ready the herbal beverages for fever and stomachache just in case someone needed it.  
The tent was illuminated by the orange light, making its colorful "walls" decorated with shadows and colors. Ishizu was smiling while working but she was also focused on her job. She placed the bowl with the cream to the corner and grabbed a small bag, full with green herbs. She carefully started forming small bunches tying them together with small strings.

Seth opened his pouch on the saddle that was near the mattress and picked a small leather dressed book and a fountain pen and started to write on it:

 **September, day unknown**

 **I've been caught in an ambush by Giovanni's men while I was chasing him to get my revenge and I nearly died. I was saved by a strange Native American girl. Her name is Ishizu. I don't know what her name means, or why she had decided to save me all of a sudden. I'm one of the "White People" after all, and everything I know about Native Americans is that they don't trust us. I don't blame them, in fact... I can understand their distrust towards white men. Even I, a white man myself, can't trust other people because of everything I've been through... But I can't understand why this woman decided to take the risk and save me. There's a strong reason behind that, I can see it in her eyes... But she can't understand my language very well to explain this to me. I guess I must try to find that out by myself. Or try to teach her more of my language... Anyway...**  
 **She took me to her village. Of course, her people didn't welcome me with open arms. They still fear me, even though I'm injured and I can't do anything against them. I saw the look of disgust in their eyes as they stared at me, like if I were a mangy dog. I don't feel comfortable with this, but I've never felt comfortable near other people, anyway, but still... I'm must confess I'm a little curious about them. I want to learn some of their culture. Maybe this knowledge may even help me in my journeys. The only thing I fear is the Chief. In the evening I came to her village, he seemed so furious to see me... Ishizu stood by me, but I can sense that this man won't rest until he sees me out of here... I don't know who he is, but I can sense he has a strong bond with Ishizu. At first I thought he was her husband, but now this doesn't make sense to me anymore. Maybe he's a family member, a brother, I'm not sure... Because I'm sure that Ishizu likes me. I can see the way she looks at me... It's not a surprise anyway. I've always seemed to get women's attention. But this troubles me a little... First she saved me, a white man, and now she seems interested on a man of a race that her tribe doesn't trust? I never understood women and I guess I never will.**  
 **Well, seems that I'm trapped here for a while. I will need to recover if I want to get my revenge against that scum and his gang of bastards. But as soon as I recover, I will leave this village and Giovanni will have what he deserves.**

As soon as he finished his writing, he closed the book and let out a sigh of relief. It was good to finally unburden his feelings. Whenever he was feeling bad, it always helped to write his anguish on a paper. It seemed that the anguish he was feeling was being transferred to the paper as he write. He then, put the book back on his pouch and closed his eyes, as a way to relax and organize his thoughts inside his mind.

Ishizu continued her job and occasionally would look up at him with the corner of her eye when he wasn't looking at her.  
He was...drawing something in there? She had taken a small look but those inside were no drawings. They were strange like runes or something, like the runes she drew on the faces of people or on the horses. She knew White Men were writing such things but she never truly knew what they meant. She got down to her work again, this time taking a dry pepper and starting crushing it into a fine powder.

Seth glanced at her with the corner of his eyes. She was still doing her things without bothering him. Somehow he felt annoyed at this but he couldn't understand why. That was all that he wanted after all! He should feel relieved that she wasn't bothering him. He sighed and grunted in annoyance at himself.  
Focus! He needed to focus on his vengeance. He lied down and stared at the tent ceiling.

" _Why this is happening to me? What have I done to deserve this? Am I paying for all the crimes I committed while I was an outlaw in Giovanni's gang? Damn..."_  
He breathed deeply and closed his eyes again. He was feeling so bored and so useless... He hated feeling like that. He couldn't wait until he could get out of that place forever. He missed the adrenaline running through his veins every time he faced a wanted outlaw. He wanted to shoot something (of course not an innocent person) to discount his frustration. Maybe, when he was feeling better, he could try to hunt something. He could hunt a rabbit or a deer and later take its pelt to sell in the city. Yeah, maybe a hunt would distract him from all stupid and meaningless thoughts about the beautiful Indian girl or other stupid things that he shouldn't be thinking about.

* * *

Ishizu finished yet another powder and placed it to a small piece of cloth and wrapped it carefully. She then took a small sack/flask of water and raised it to her lips to drink, throwing her head back. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand when she finished and then looked at him.  
She stood up and approached him, offering him the sack as if asking him if he would drink.

He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard she approaching him. His heart jumped at first, but when he saw she was only offering him water, he calmed down. He nodded his head in affirmation.

"Yes, please."

She smiled knowing he had answered in a positive way. She gave him the small sack to drink as much as he wanted.

This time he didn't drink everything, but he still drinks a lot of water. He then whipped his mouth with the back of his hand and gave the sack back to her.

"Thanks."

She took it back nodding her head with a smile. She then went back to her job. She was making dried plants at a powder by rubbing her hands together and trimming them, a little girl comes in smiling. She has her hair in two braids smiling.

"Ishizu!"  
Ishizu looked up from her work and smiled at the girl coming in.

"Nakoma"  
The girl didn't look older than five years old. She got in and smiled to Ishizu but when she noticed Seth in the corner, she gasped a little and seemed a little scared.

Seth noticed the little girl entering and was a little curious. He saw the frightened expression in her eyes, like if he was a wild animal who could attack at any moment. He felt somewhat uncomfortable with this.

The little girl pointed at him.

"This...this is..."

"Nakoma!" Her voice was gentle but still it sounded strict as well, "He is an injured man. He can't harm you. He's staying here till he recovers. Do you understand?"  
The girl seemed uncertain for she was occasionally gazing over her shoulder towards Seth but she seemed to be trusting Ishizu.

"Heard that Pale People are dangerous and spit fire out of their mouths!"

"That's silly. He is a man like you and me. Human; Nothing extraordinary or scary about him. Fear not. He is just an injured man. Look. His bandages have red spots. He bleeds like you and me. There is nothing more and nothing less. You must not fear him."

She smiled caressing Nakoma's head.

"He is just wearing different clothes than us and he uses different things than us. That's all about them."

Seth couldn't understand a word they were saying, again, and he was frustrated. But maybe he could show the little girl that he wasn't dangerous, but how he would do that? He always had sympathy for children, because he grew up in an orphanage. He smiled softly at her, hoping that she would feel less scared if he showed a soft expression.

Ishizu happened to look up and see his frustration and smiled softly.

"You can get closer. He is not dangerous."  
The girl seemed uncertain but followed Ishizu's lead and came closer to him. Looked at Ishizu as if begging her to assure her that he wouldn't hurt her and when she gave her a nod, she extended her small hand and touched Seth's forearm a little.

He slowly moved his hand, to not scare the little girl, and held her small hand on his. He smiled softly at her and whispered, even thought he knew she wouldn't understand.

"Hey, it's alright... I won't hurt you." He said, looking in her eyes

The girl seemed a bit uncertain at first but looked up at him and her black eyes meet his own icy-blue ones. Obviously she had never seen such eyes before so she was totally allured to them. She looked up at him and her gaze would never leave his.  
She blinked a couple of times but her eyes were always fastened in his and her innocent and now curious gaze was as if she wanted to stare into his soul... He was so warm...so...so...different than the older people had told her...  
She saw him smiling. She heard his gentle voice and even if she couldn't understand the words...she felt...alright...  
She softly smiled back...her caramel skin slightly rosy to the cheeks.  
As if in a daze of a dream her small hand that was free extended up to his face and softly...touched his cheek...  
Ishizu was watching those two and was feeling her heart bouncing in her chest. The man she knew as warrior in her dreams he was now here...tender like a kind father close to a child...

He smiled softly by her gentle touch and he returned it by caressing the little girl's hair.

"See? I am not dangerous."

The girl looked up at the sound of his voice again, for before she was looking at his terrible wounds and then when she looked up, blinked a couple of times and smiled.

He saw her looking at his wounds and sighed.

"Bad people did this to me. I'm not like them."  
He looked down at her again and smiled once more.

The girl was still there, as if lost in the moment when a woman's voice was heard from away. The girl looked outwards of the tent. Ishizu smiled.

"Your mother is calling, Nakoma. You better go. He needs rest too."  
The girl looked at Seth and then at her and nodded obediently.

"Can I visit again?"

Ishizu smiled.

"Of course."

The girl named Nakoma went to the entrance of the tent and smiled to Ishizu and then waved at him.

"Bye, mister!" She said and right away dashed out of the tent

Seth waved back at the girl when she was leaving the tent. Even after she left, he kept his soft expression for a while. He really liked children and now that he had shown to the little girl that he wasn't a dangerous animal, he felt somewhat relieved.

Ishizu was still in the same place Nakoma had left her and she was smiling. How can a strong man want to hide such a warm heart? She could see it in his eyes that he would become a great father if he wanted to. He loved children; she could see it.

He glanced at Ishizu and noticed that she was looking at him and smiling. Damn! He had totally forgot about her! He immediately stopped smiling and grunted in annoyance again, coming back to his old, arrogant self. Yes, he wasn't a dangerous guy. He would never harm any of these people, however, he was still a lone wolf, a bounty hunter, and he didn't need anyone and he really wanted to show that to Ishizu. He would be leaving her after his wounds healed, after all. He didn't need her pity.

Ishizu noticed that so she sighed something that could mean, "here we go again!" and she went back to her corner close to the fire to continue her work.

He lied down in the mattress, staring at the ceiling again, lost in his thoughts. The little girl reminded him of when he was a little boy in the orphanage. But she hadn't had her life messed up by a bastard, like he was. Lucky for her. He thought that, maybe, after he got his revenge on Giovanni, he would go back to the old orphanage he grew up and give some money he got from his bounties to the nuns, to help the children. He often did that, even in his outlaw days. He would always steal from the rich, arrogant people. He remembered about the arrogant banker he once stole. He had a long white hair and an eccentric look for his age. The man had such a reputation on his city. He smirked at the memory. The man had put a high bounty on him on that time. He was sure this man was still chasing for his head, somewhere, but Seth didn't minded. He had gave all of this arrogant man's money to the orphaned children, something he was sure the man himself would never do.  
For a while, Seth remained silent, staring at the tent ceiling, thinking about things of his life when slowly, sleep was coming to him...

* * *

Ishizu had practically finished her work and mopped her forehead smiling at the result. She seemed satisfied with herself. Completely unconsciously she brought her hair over her left shoulder and started braiding them in a braid. She tied the end of it with a small piece of string and looked at his direction again. He was awfully silent most of the time she was working and she had noticed that the time indeed flew.  
She stood up and looked at him.

"Hungry?" she asked him with a smile

He was almost falling asleep when he heard her voice again. He raised his head, still feeling a little drowsy when suddenly his heart started racing. Ishizu had braided her hair, which further enhanced the beauty of her face. He felt the blood rush to his cheeks while he looked at her.

" _Damn! Not this again! Stop with this! It's not time to think about women, damn it!"_  
He immediately tried to hide his embarrassment again by snorting.

"Yes." He answered on his typical arrogant way, avoiding looking directly at her face.

He didn't want to be distracted by her... looks again.

She smiled softly.

"You wait. I back." and walked out of the tent

He watched as she left the tent and let out a sight of relief. It was hard to stare at her without feeling all that annoying sensations... He cursed himself again. It was true that she was a beautiful woman, maybe the most beautiful he had seen in his whole life, but he couldn't be thinking about women when he had a revenge to worry about. He shook the thoughts from his head and thought about the young girl who visited him instead. He felt so relieved after seeing that she was beginning to trust him... She was really adorable. He hoped she would visit him more times. Maybe she could distract him from thinking about Ishizu... He sighed again and waited for Ishizu to come back.

Not too long after that Ishizu returned holding in her arms a loaf of corn-bread and a bowl of thick, red soup for him and one for herself and knelt close to him smiling softly and giving him one bowl.

"Here..." She said smiling kindly

He grunted and took the bowl with the soup and started eating. He took a piece of the corn bread and dove it the soup and ate it. The soup had a spicy flavor and it was burning a little his mouth, but he didn't mind it and continued eating.

She was eating with him occasionally smiling seeing him eating. The fact that he did so was a good sign to her. It meant that he had no issues with his health and that the treatment was successful. He would soon be able to walk around on his own without feeling much pain and without the great danger of his wounds re-open easily.

When he finished eating, he cleaned himself and asked for water, since his mouth was still burning a little because of the peppers in the soup.

She nodded her head and offered him the flask once more.

He took the flask and drank all the water that was still inside it and handed it back to her, still avoiding looking at her directly.

"Thank you." He answered in his usual cold tone.

He really wanted to not show any emotion in front of her. He knew she liked him, so he hoped that, by acting emotionless towards her would make her realize he wasn't interested on her, even though - and he hated to admit it to himself - he _**did**_ find her kind of... attractive... But she could never learn that! It could give her false hope and he really hated it.

She smiled and took the flask back also gathering the clay plates from the floor and from near him, taking them to the other side of her tent to keep them there so she could wash them later. She smiled at him as she approached him and kneeled beside the mattress again.

"Now okay?" She asked him, since she couldn't yet ask him in a full sentence in his language if he needed anything else

He blinked a few times, as if he was thinking of an answer. Well, she had already checked his wounds, he had already eaten and drank. There wasn't anything else he needed besides a good rest. He then nodded quietly.

"Yes. Well...Huh... Thanks..." He thanked her, a bit awkwardly.

She nodded back smiling. She fixed his small pillow a little and helped him lie down softly so he wouldn't hurt himself in the process (it was just a precaution, not really that she expected for him to hurt himself since he seemed out of danger now)  
and she slowly and carefully covered his body with the blanket up to his chest.

Seth lied down in the mattress again with her help. He didn't complain, since he was too tired and only wanted to rest, so he straightened himself in the mattress and closed his eyes, waiting for sleep to come.

She went to the fire in order to pour the ashes all around so the coals would remain lit in the night but not so much, so the warmth wouldn't go away...and she started gathering the last things for her too to retire for the night...

* * *

 **Okay everyone. I have yet another chapter from the Western Yu-Gi-Oh roleplay with AnaPaulaDBZ (on DeviantArt)  
**

 **So...a lot of sweetness happens here! And Ishizu might cause embarassing feelings to Seth but at least Seth now finally admits to himself that he feels attraction to her! Hehehehehe! That's something I suppose!**  
 **And yes here is a sweet scene with a little Indian girl! That is why I named it "light of hope" because theoretically there is another person in the village that likes Seth or at least is not afraid of him!**

 **Aww Seth is sweet with children! Oh and whan Ishizu tried to tell him is that he himself saved his life with his will to survive. More or less she tells him that it was his will to live that saved his life and not her treatment alone.**

 **The little girl's name was inspired by Pokahontas's name in Disney movie**  
 **Seth's diary was an idea we both had! It was inspired by _"The Last Samurai"_ movie to which Algrain keeps notes to his diary. This diary is an important part of the plot cause it will allow us do some timeskips**

 _Seth McLeach_ AnaPaulaDBZ

 _Ishizu_ katerinaaqu

 _Nakoma_ katerinaaqu

 **Please do not claim or steal this art/story/plot without OUR permission! Thank you**


	10. Nightmare, Comfort, Prophecy

_Seth was facing a tall, older man, with a gray beard, again. The man was smirking ironically at him, as if he wasn't afraid of him at all and this was making Seth feel even more irritated._

" _What do you want from me? Why have you ruined my life? Why do you like to torture me, even in my dreams?" He shouted at the man in front of him, his voice full of rage._

 _The man laughed. An insane, hoarse laughter that made Seth's blood boil in rage._

" _I ask you, my son. What do you want from me? I am your father. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't even exist. You OWE me. Isn't it what you wanted? To have a family? Why do you want to kill the only man who shares the same blood with you?"  
Seth gritted his teeth. How dare he say something like this?_

" _I am NOT like you! I will NEVER be! You took away everything that was important to me! You took away my chances to be happy in my life! I HATE YOU!"  
The man's expression suddenly changed. He now seemed offended by Seth's words._

" _You're a ungrateful child, just like your mother was."_

" _Don't you dare speak of her! I don't own you anything! I wish I'd never been born from you if I could!" He shouted at the man, who didn't seem intimidated by him._

" _So this is how it is going to be? Then fine. If you think I'm afraid to kill my own offspring, you are seriously wrong."  
Giovanni faced Seth; his hands were ready to pull the gun from his holster. Seth's hands were ready to pull the gun too. They faced each other for a couple of minutes, as it was common for these kinds of duels and then Seth quickly drew his gun and shot three times at the man's chest. Giovanni feel on the floor, coughing blood and Seth smirked. It was done, finally. He turned back and was ready to ride Kisara again, when suddenly he felt an immense pain on his back and he fell on his knees on the floor, coughing blood. He turned his head a little and saw Giovanni, fallen on the floor with the gun pointed at him. The bastard reunited his last forces to shoot him from the back! What a coward man he was! Seth's vision darkened and his body fell lifeless on the desert ground..._

* * *

Seth woke up in the middle of the night startled. He was sweating and breathing hard. He had twitched and muttered in his sleep. He looked around him and saw that he was still inside the tent, but it was still hard to convince to himself that he just had a nightmare. It felt so _real_. He could feel the pain from the bullet on his back. It was a fearsome sensation. He stood still, breathing hard and looking around, trying to recover from his terrible nightmare.

Ishizu was sleeping on the tent's floor covered with yet another blanket, since Seth had occupied her mattress till he felt better in order to walk and stand on his own. She was never a heavy sleeper and sometimes even a slight change in the evening air would stir her awake and make her focus to that sound.  
So this late of hour in the middle of the night she felt great movement coming from the tent's corner and was hearing moans, muffled screams and noises of protest and she could tell that someone was having a nightmare. Her eyelids trembled opened and she looked towards Seth's direction to see him wide-awake and in a shock.  
He was soaked in sweat and she could tell he had a nightmare. She knew how it felt since many of her night visions were nightmarish and even her who was a shaman and had learnt to control her dreams to see through as much as she could, would wake up from them.

"Seth...?" She whispered sheepishly as she sat up from where she was sleeping to look at him.

It was probably the first time Seth would see her without her band in her hair with the feathers and her face-paint was off in the night so she was looking at him now in the darkness with her dark blue eyes. Her raven hair was slightly messy from sleep and completely loose.

Seth turned his head to look at Ishizu at the sound of his name. It was actually the first time she had said his name and this somehow, made him feel calmer. Her presence was reassuring and helped him realize he had only a nightmare after all, but still, he was still afraid and scared, like a little child. The nightmare he had was still tormenting him. It felt so real, like he was actually living it. He was used to having nightmares, but this time it was worse than he was used to. He looked down at the floor and held his head with both his hands, still breathing fast, as he tried to recover.

Ishizu knew that he didn't like being touched or perhaps he disliked her particularly, but seeing him like this made her heart clench. A strong man like this shouldn't be in this state... She slowly gets up from her lying position, taking the blanket off her body and approached him.

"Seth...?"

She sat beside him and softly wrapped an arm around his broad shoulders.

"Alright...? What is...?"

He looked at her again, staring at her deep blue eyes that almost seemed black in the darkness of the night. He could feel the warmth of her body close to him and this somehow was reassuring... However, he was still troubled by his nightmare. He let out a deep sight and avoided her gaze, but not out of pride, like he would usually do in normal state, but out of sorrow, like he didn't want to talk about it because it hurt him. It hurt him to remember about his past and what Giovanni had done to him.

"Shhh..." she whispered softly, caressing him on the head and making her embrace closer.

She could feel warmth holding him there, so close to her... She could feel his raspy breathing and she could tell how upset he was from his dream... She could tell he didn't want to talk about it but even if he did want to, she wouldn't be able to understand him... She wished she knew more of his language...she wished she were faster learner so now she would speak with him and reassure him!  
However those "ifs" were not going to get her anywhere. She knew that he was suffering and that was all she needed to know... She caressed him softly with her hands.

"It's okay..." She whispered in her language.

She knew that he wouldn't understand a word but she knew her mother tongue better and she was feeling more confident that she would make a calmer voice with it. If he wanted to speak with her she would listen even if that meant she wouldn't understand or that he wouldn't understand her back.

"It's okay...it's over..." she was whispering in her language once more, comfortingly, like talking to a child, like a mother would...caressing his head and his broad shoulders, "It's alright..."

Unconsciously, Seth laid his head on her shoulder and let her caress him. Somehow, she reminded him of his childhood days in the orphanage, when sister Anna comforted him after his nightmares. She would always sit by his side on his bed and caress his head until he fell asleep again. Her body was so warm and comforting... He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. His heartbeat seemed to slow down a bit and his breath was getting more relaxed as he felt Ishizu's soft hand caressing him.

She smiled at him feeling him relaxing on her. She hugged him closer to her and she started humming something...the lullaby she had hummed to him when he was sick... A soft and calming melody and one of the few things she remembered from her own mother. She also started half-rocking him as much she dared so she wouldn't make him feel discomfort, plus he was much bigger and heavier than her so she tried to move carefully and not to put too much strength in her movements.  
The night was calm and quiet and the coals at the small fire in the middle of the tent were providing good warmth at the chill of the night as Ishizu was softly humming the song, her voice seemed to be traveling around with the night breeze, as if it was part of wind itself. Her own heart was beating softly in her chest, feeling him close to her...feeling him needing her. Perhaps he did it because there was no other option for him, because she was the only person in there however she didn't mind... She was with him now and she was doing her best to help him now that he needed it and this was more than enough for her.  
As she continued humming the song softly...and the crickets of the night seemed to be accompanying her melody...

The sound of her soft voice humming the same lullaby from when he was sick made him feel even more relaxed and calm... he could feel his fears slowly disappearing and now his mind was at peace... It was so comforting to feel the warmth of her body close to him, to feel her hand softly caressing him and to hear her voice singing to him... It felt so much like the old days of his childhood, with sister Anna singing to him and comforting him after a terrible nightmare. He was feeling so safe... His chest was moving lightly as his breath calmed down and he unconsciously put an arm around her as well, as if he wanted her to stay close to him until he fell asleep.

She felt his arm around her and she was kind of taken aback, of course not in a bad way. She smiled and moved closer to him, both arms around him now, caressing him.

"Don't worry..." She whispered in her language, "I won't leave you..."  
And she went back to her singing but now instead of just humming, she started singing the words...the old lullaby her mother sang to her with as loud whispering voice as it should be, barely heard in the serene of night as if she was a fairy of the night that wanted to sing to the lost traveler and help him sleep.

 _"As the wind rises, and the river runs  
I am here, holding your both hands  
Fish play in the waters, the spirits start to sing  
I am here, my sun and stars, holding you under my wing  
Like the waves at the shoreline  
I hear your breathing, as it comes and rises...  
The leaves will sing and dance  
I will be here, I won't leave you to the uncertain chance...  
As the steady drum, your heart, is thumping  
I will dance to the rhythm, I will be singing..."_

Of course the lyrics were in her language and Seth wouldn't understand their meaning but the song was soft, and calming. She sang of blossoms that rose their heads towards the blue sky, of clear waters and corn fields and of the protection they give...

Seth left out another deep breath as she held him closer to her. Her warmth was taking over him and he snuggled comfortably against her, trying to put himself in a more comfortable position, his arms resting around her as they pulled her closer, seeking for comfort. He then heard her soft voice singing in her language. Of course he didn't understood the lyrics, but he could tell it was something soft and calming... Like the song sister Anna would usually sing to him. This memory made his heart flatter inside his chest. It was actually... good... to have someone near him right now... As she sang, he could feel sleep slowly coming to him as he relaxed in her arms.

She smiled feeling him relaxing and she continues singing softly.

 _"And when the stars are up there  
Spirits gaze and great care  
I am here, I am here, I am here  
Nothing I will let you scare  
As I am here, Spirits gaze and great care..."_

Seth was relaxing by the sound of her voice singing softly. Her voice was so sweet and serene... It seemed like a mermaid singing to a lost sailor, luring him to the darkness of sleep... He could feel a warm feeling taking over him as he was slowly falling asleep in her arms. A feeling of safety... like the feeling he felt in the orphanage, around the nuns who raised him... It has been years since he felt like this... He unconsciously moved a little one last time and held her closer, feeling more of her warmth, sleep taking over him...

Ishizu smiled feeling him relaxed in her arms and saw he had drifted to sleep. She smiled down at him and placed him on the mattress carefully once more, always taking care of not waking him up. She then went to her corner as well, below the cover, and drifted to sleep as well with the sounds of the night...

* * *

Seth had a peaceful night's sleep. No more nightmares and no more Giovanni's threatening him on his dreams. There was only peace and quiet... When he woke up in the dawn of the day, still lying on the mattress, his eyes slowly opening, his memories where slowly coming back to him... He remembered hearing a soft, beautiful song sang by an enchanting female voice, like a mermaid... And then a warm feeling... A warm body close to him and warm arms around him, caressing him softly... and then...

" _Oh, shit!"_  
He quickly got up, startled by his own thoughts. He remembered the nightmare. He remembered the fear he felt when he woke up. But worst of it all... He remembered being _**comforted**_ by Ishizu! And even worse, he had let her! What was wrong with him? He never showed this kind of weakness in front of anyone ever since his childhood days! He felt anger rise to his chest. He was so _**angry**_ with himself... Why was he acting as a fool every time Ishizu was near him? It was so damn irritating. He looked around the tent. It was still a little dark, but light was slowly taking its place in the sky. The village around was still quiet and the only sound he could hear was the birds starting to wake up and chirp. His eyes then found Ishizu, sleeping in the tent's floor, next to his mattress and he felt his face blush furiously, not only for the embarrassing memory he had of her comforting him in the night, but also for seeing how _**beautiful**_ she looked while she was asleep, with her hair completely loose and messy, and her face looking so peaceful... He swallowed a big lump on his throat as he tried to stop his embarrassing thoughts before they became worse. Of course he didn't want to see that beautiful face of hers everyday when he wakes up... what a silly thought! He had seen the faces of many girls in the morning and he couldn't even remember their names. Why should he care? He would leave them, anyway. Like he was going to leave Ishizu, so, it didn't matter. All that he wanted right now was to get out of this village as soon as possible. This woman was only making him feel awkward, and he really hated it.

" _I only want my revenge. Nothing else matters right now..."_  
He thought to himself, full of confidence. No, he wouldn't let him be affected by Ishizu again. This was the LAST time. Who did she think he is? He would make her know the real Seth McLeach, the strong, fearless, and lonely man he always was and not the weak, stupid child he once were. That weak Seth didn't exist anymore. He was going to make her know the real him, whether she liked it or not. He then lied down in the mattress again, convinced, and tried to sleep again, since it was still too early for him to get up.

Meanwhile Ishizu's eyelids trembled softly as she started to wake up. She softly raised herself in sitting position yawning softly and running her fingers through her raven-black hair. Her eyes fell upon him and she smiled to him as her dark blue eyes looked like smooth glass under the sunlight.  
It was a nice change to her. Usually she woke up earlier than he did and she would go out to make him and her breakfast but it was a nice change to see him awake before her. She slipped the cover that was covering herself at night and she fixed herself a little.  
Some of the amulets that she wore around her neck even at night loved a little upon her nice chest.

Seth's thoughts were disturbing him and he was feeling annoyed. He wanted to sleep more to forget about the embarrassing memories of him and Ishizu in the night, but instead, these thoughts were tormenting him. Damn! He was so angry at himself for acting as a fool child every time Ishizu was near him. And this was really, really annoying.  
He then heard a slight movement by his side. It meant that Ishizu was waking up, too. Instantly he felt his face go warmer at the thought of her, but he tried to ignore it. He tried to ignore how _**cute**_ she must be looking now, with her hair all messy from sleep. It didn't matter to him. He was going to leave this woman forever and she was supposed to marry a strong warrior from her tribe. That was the way things should be and it was fine by him.  
He moved a little, fixing the cover over himself and turned to another position, in an attempt to sleep and forget everything.

Ishizu noticed this movement and blinked in confusion. He sure changed moods faster than the stream of the river. However she decided to shrug her shoulders and she got up. She folded her cover and placed it to the corner of the room. She then braided her two parts of hair and prepared herself for the day. She then got out of the tent to fix the breakfast.

He heard her as she got out of the tent and sighed in relief.

" _Finally, some peace."_  
He thought to himself as he adjusted himself again in the mattress. The sounds of the waking up village were starting to be heard by him. Somehow, he wasn't annoyed by the sounds. He was even feeling relaxed as he imagined how was life for these people. They sure had almost anything to worry about, except for the White Man, of course. He, somehow, felt a little of envy. He wished he could have nothing to worry about too... But life was always stabbing him in the back.  
And with these thoughts, he slowly began to fall asleep again...

After the sounds of the village also the smells of baking bread and food came inside the tent as well. The warmth of the sun was also increasing as the peaceful feeling was everywhere in the atmosphere. Ishizu came in a little later holding some warm bread and some cheese and saw him asleep again. She smiled.  
Sleep was a good sign. His body was starting to re-gain energy, so that meant that his wounds were healing normally. She placed the food down and sat at the corner preparing the several dusts and potions she had made the night before to organize them. She would check his wounds later when he would wake up and eat properly.

* * *

Seth slept for a few more hours until he slowly woke up, still feeling a little sleepy. His eyelids opened slowly and he got up, his hair messy from sleep. He yawned and stretched his body and then his eyes found Ishizu at the corner of the tent and he instantly felt his heart racing when he saw her, which was annoying to him. He grunted in annoyance and rolled his eyes.

Ishizu's eye got caught by the movement and she had to stop for a second to look at him. Indeed he looked so different just woken up! So...less angry and so less vulnerable than the night before!  
She smiled and goes close to him.

"M-Morning" she said hoping she got his word correctly

He just grunted in response as he tried to ignore the annoying feelings he got every time she was near him and with his hands, he tried to fix his messy hair.

Ishizu too felt a flatter in her heart seeing him like this so she looked elsewhere for a second but then she returned her gaze to him and placed before him the bread and cheese.

"Hungry?" she asked smiling

"Yes." He answered with his typical annoyed tone and took the bread and cheese in his hands and started eating it.

The food tasted delicious, as always. He could notice it was fresh, like she had prepared it a few moments ago. He was enjoying every bite of the food and when he finished, he burped in satisfaction. However, he felt his cheeks burning in embarrassment. Normally he wouldn't feel embarrassed because of a burp, it was normal for men, but he never did it in front of a woman. He felt really annoyed at this.

"S-sorry..." He said, awkwardly, trying to apologize for his embarrassing act

She smiled softly and nodded. She doesn't matter this anyway. Men in her village often did that to show that they enjoyed the food. To her it was like a compliment that he enjoyed it so much. She also finished her own food and then drank some water from the flask she had also brought with her. She then offered he flask to him.

He took the flask and drank from the water that was inside it. When he finished, he dried out his mouth with his arm and gave the flask back to her.

"Thank you." He said, leaving his annoyance aside for a while

"You're welcome" she nodded her head

He took a deep sigh and looked around, avoiding looking directly at her. The memories of last night were still bothering him. He could still remember her warmth, the feeling of peace and safety she gave him while she caressed him and sang to him with her beautiful voice...

" _Aargh! What am I thinking? I'm not a stupid boy anymore! Damn! I need to get out of here... Yes, maybe some fresh air will help me wipe out this stupid thoughts from my mind..."_

He thought as he looked to the entrance of the tent, but soon he felt the pain from his wounds and thought that maybe Ishizu should check on them first before he could get out for a walk. This thought annoyed him so much, because every time she was treating his wounds, he would feel those annoying awkward sensations again, but he didn't have a choice. He put a hand on his wounded side and made a pained expression.

She noticed his move so she knows he wanted to move. All wounded warriors wanted only one thing, not to remember that they are wounded. She could tell how much it bothered them and yet alone this man. She went closer and started off with his shoulder and smiled once she removed the bandage and checked it.

"This good" she said smiling, "This heal! This, not anymore!" she said meaning the bandage, which now she pointed at him.

Indeed his wound is barely a small scar so she judges that it should be free to "breathe" for now on. She then leaned closer and started unwrapping the bandage around his waist.

He closed his eyes as she leaned closer to him to unwrap his bandages, as a way of stop himself from being embarrassed, but it was worthless. He felt a shiver ran down his spine as he felt the warmth of her body close to him. He took a deep breath and tried to ignore all of these awkward feelings.

She checked the wound and noticed the swelling from the burn has drawn back a lot. Still the liquid came out but still she could tell it was healing properly. She wetted a small rug with some water and started cleaning the wound carefully and softly so she wouldn't hurt him.  
Once it was clean she checked on the patches she had made and also saw they are doing their job properly. Perhaps in a couple of days she would be able to take them off. She prepared a new bandage and made some more healing cream from herbs to place it on his wound. She then wrapped the new and clean bandage around his waist and secured it with a knob. She smiled satisfied with the result and smiles at him softly.

"Okay..." she said trying to tell him that it is healing, "Good. Get good."  
She noticed he felt uncomfortable. Maybe even feeling bad. She thought she knew the reason.

"Want, out?" she said to him, to ask him if he wanted to go outside, "See Kisara?"

Seth felt a strange shiver when her soft and delicate hands touched his skin, which made him feel very annoyed at himself. He could also feel his cheeks getting warmer and his heart racing, but he tried to ignore that as hard as he could.  
He felt his wounds burn a little when she applied the herbal cream, but not as much as before, so it meant he was healing. He sighed in relief at this. It meant he would only have to spend a few more weeks recovering and then he could finally get out of that place and focus on his revenge and get back to his lonely bounty hunter life.  
When she finished wrapping the bandages around his body he sighed in relief again, but he was still feeling uncomfortable with the awkward sensations he got every time she was near him. But when he heard her ask him if he wanted to go out, he looked at her with a softer expression instead of his usual grumpy face.

"Yes, please. I want to go out. Hmm... See Kisara..." He said, looking at her and at the same time surprised at how easily she guessed what he wanted.

It was like she had read his mind! Seeing his faithful mare always helped Seth to forget about his problems for a while... It was like she was his only friend in world and the only one who truly understood him. He didn't care if she was a horse and couldn't speak. In fact, it was even better for him. People were treacherous and liars. And animals didn't judge anyone, they were always loyal and that was enough to him.

She smiled and stood up extending her arm for him to take it and help him stand up.

"Out...see Kisara" she said softly, smiling at him still

He got up with her help, holding her hand, but he almost lost his balance, so, unconsciously, he put both of his hands on her shoulders to prevent himself from falling, however, this put him in a very... awkward position. His face was very close to hers and he felt a strange chill in his stomach as he gazed into her dark-blue eyes...  
He felt his face burning in embarrassment and he immediately looked away from her to avoid feeling even more awkward feelings and he quickly moved away.

"S...Sorry..." He stammered awkwardly, looking away from her.

Damn! He hated feeling vulnerable like this! He just wanted to get out of that tent to clear his thoughts; that's was all that he needed. He tried to ignore all the stupid sensations he was feeling, but it was nearly impossible and he hated himself so much for not being able to control this stupid emotions.

She blushed only slightly for some reason she couldn't understand. She was treating men almost every day but still this specific man was different for her. She shook her head.

"No… No..." she assured him it was okay and helped him stand once more.

She gave him the walking stick once more, smiling. She knew he would prefer to walk on his own rather than leaning against her.

He grunted in annoyance at his own awkwardness and took the walking stick from her and walked to the outside of the tent, taking care to not look directly at her, afraid of feeling even more awkward emotions.

* * *

Ishizu was walking before him or behind him till they got to the end of the village. There a pure-white mere came towards them. It was Kisara. Ishizu smiled and gave him a small bad. Inside it had apples and grains.

"Kisara" she said smiling, meaning it was to feed Kisara.

She had been feeding her while Seth was in his bed but now he was here she thought it would be better for him to feed his horse.

Seth smiled as soon as he saw his faithful mare coming in his direction.

"Hey, girl!" He caressed her nose when she got closer with a big smile on his face.

He, then, took the bag from Ishizu's hand and started to feed the animal.

"Here, girl..."

While Kisara ate, Seth caressed her mane, smiling.

She was smiling watching the tender scene between them. She could see why this mere seemed so happy to be close to him.

Seth was feeding Kisara with a smile on his face. He gave all the apples Ishizu gave him. When Kisara ate all the apples, she poked his chest playfully, like if she wanted more.

"Sorry, girl, there's no more apples for you..." He said, caressing her.

She playfully stirred his hair with her lips and he laughed.

"Hey, Kisara, stop with this!" He said laughing, as he caressed her.

Again, he was looking like a young boy, and not the rude, arrogant man he was.

Ishizu was smiling at the scene.

" _A mighty warrior is not the most brutal...but the one with the golden heart... I was right to guess it should be him..."_  
She thought seeing them showered in sunlight, which made Seth's skin even paler and the white mare almost look like glowing.

" _The White Warrior..."_

* * *

 **Phew! FINALLY I managed to post this next chapter! Sorry for the long wait!**

 **Anyway yet another part of our roleplay (mine and AnaPaulaDBZ's on Deviantart) Poor Seth is tormented by nightmares and Ishizu was there to give him warmth and comfort!**  
 **The lullaby was purely my creation and it was just a random set of free-verse lyrics. It has nothing to do with an actual Native American song. And believe me guys it was one of the sweetest moments we had rolepayed so far!**

 **Also Ishizu tries to please Seth, to make him smile, by taking him out to see his faithful mare. Plus she tries to treat his spirit too because she knows how proud men are when it came to weakness so she wants him to become healthy again so he will be happy!**  
 **Anyway I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as we enjoyed roleplaying it!**

 _Seth McLeach_ \- AnaPaulaDBZ

 _Ishizu_ \- katerinaaqu

 _ **Picture from this chapter:** _ Western YGO-Lullaby **(please visit AnaPaulaDBZ's profile on Deviantart to see her picture ^^)**

 **Please do not claim or steal this art/story/plot without OUR permission! Thank you**


	11. Kanyenke

Seth continued to play with his mare, not seeming to mind Ishizu's presence witnessing the scene, but suddenly, Seth stopped. Something was bothering him. He felt like he was being watched. He looked at Ishizu. Of course he felt annoyed by her presence, but it wasn't her... He looked around, trying to see if there was someone hidden, watching him, but he couldn't saw anything... Until his eyes located an eagle perched in a tree nearby. Seth narrowed his eyes to look at the eagle. There was something... odd about that eagle, like if it was watching him, like if he was a giant mouse it wanted to catch. The eagle moved her head curiously at the young man. Seth could see a glimpse of an amulet hanging in the eagle's neck and he felt that feeling, like he was being watched, again, but then he shook his head in disbelief.

" _It's just an eagle... Why I am being so paranoid? I mean, it's not like if it's spying on me, it's just an animal!"_  
But he was still feeling a weird sensation coming from the bird. The eagle screamed and took flight. Seth watched the eagle as it flew away. Was it going to the Indian village? And again, why should he bother? It was just an animal! He tried to ignore this and continued to caress his mare.

However Ishizu gasped slightly seeing the eagle and fixed her eyes on it.

"Master" she whispered in her language and smiled seeing the eagle flying away towards the village

Seth continued to caress Kisara, but he couldn't shake that weird feeling from his chest.

" _Great. First the weird sensations I feel for Ishizu and now I'm becoming paranoid because of an eagle. What is wrong with me?"_  
He hugged Kisara's neck, as a way to comfort himself from all his weird thoughts.

"Kisara, we need to get out of here as soon as possible before I get crazy..." He whispered to his mare, which moved her head slightly, like if she was trying to say to him he was going to be okay

Sensing he was not in a very happy mood she turned around to face him and smiled a bright smile. For a moment she looked like the adolescent girl she actually was than the determined shaman and doctor she had been the past days. She ran, almost in an adorable way towards a tree and motioned for him to come closer.  
She grabbed the lowest branch and started climbing onto it, surprisingly easily, or at least much more easily than someone like Seth would have thought. She reached a branch and cut off a few fruits and then she jumped down, agile like a cat. She smiled to him and opened her palms to reveal the juicy fruits, offering some to him.

Seth turned around to see her. He felt his cheeks going warmer when she smiled at him, but he tried to ignore it. He frowned at her when she started to run. She was... looking kinda cute, running like a young girl, but he tried as hard as he could to shake this thoughts from his head. He grunted in annoyance and followed her. He was surprised to see how easily she climbed the tree, despite her delicate body, and how agile she was. He stood there for a moment, speechless, only staring at her in astonishment, but soon he came back to his senses ant grabbed some fruits from her hand, grumbling a little in annoyance.

Ishizu smiled at him. Her dark stallion emerged behind some tree bushes and came closer to her, placing his nose over her shoulder looking at Seth and Kisara behind his back. Ishizu smiled to her beloved stallion and softly caressed his dark brown, almost black nose.

A cold wind blew from the north and made Seth shiver. He really missed his clothes, and not only because of the cold, but also because it made him feel so... exposed. The only times he was shirtless in front of a woman was when he... He blushed deeply at the thought. It wasn't time to think about such a thing! He shook the thoughts from his head and put his arms around his own body as a way to protect himself from the cold breeze.

She noticed he must have been feeling cold and she knew he might be tired too. His wounds were almost healed but still he needed more rest to come back to his previous strength. She softly held his wrist with both her hands and smiled.

"Back" she said softly, "Go, back..." she suggested

He looked at her and nodded. He didn't want to catch a cold after all. He called Kisara one last time and the mare approached her master, rubbing her nose against him.

"Be okay, girl. I'll see you later." He said softly to her as he caressed her nose one last time before following Ishizu back to the tent.

* * *

As they are walking though, the sound of another running horse was heard and suddenly a large black and white stallion appeared. On his back was a tall Indian man with long hair and striking eyes. He appeared to have a small deer tied to the back of his horse. Obviously he had been out hunting for he also had bows and arrows to his back. He too wasn't using saddle and he has the horse's hair instead of reins. The horse was also painted here and there with patterns.  
The tall man, who was at least a head taller than Seth and double his mass in muscle, stopped his horse close to them. When Seth would look at him he would notice that he was like a mirror reflection to the man standing over Ishizu's man (or relative) the time before. The man was looking down at them. His eyes seemed to become gentle when falling to Ishizu but hardened in suspicion when saw him.

Seth looked up at the man who was standing before him. His eyes were gazing at him firmly, with suspicion. He couldn't help but to shiver in nervousness. He stood behind Ishizu, as a way to seek for her protection. As long as he hated to admit it, she was the only one who could protect him now, but he still looked at the man with a serious expression, because he still didn't wanted to look like a scared dog in front of this man. Somehow he felt the need to show him he was not as weak as he seemed now.

Ishizu noticed the small movement behind her and she could tell he was on defense and that he was feeling uncomfortable. The tall, Indian warrior jumped off his horse and approached her.

"Kanyenke" She said gently, friendly but still with respect, like most of women of her village should show in front of a man, yet alone a strong warrior such as this one

He looked at her but his expression remains stone-like. He looked at the man behind her suspiciously.

"Who's this Pale Face behind you, Ishizu?" He demanded in a deep and hoarse voice that certainly would freeze the blood in the veins.

Of course he spoke in their language so Seth could not understand the words but it was clear, he was speaking about him...and not much pleasantly to say the very least.

Ishizu's face too remained serious and returned the man's gaze fearlessly.

"He's the White Warrior Who Rides the White Cloud. He's the one I saw in my dreams. He's injured and weak. I treat him in my tent till he regains his strength."

However the man seemed somehow suspicious again. Now more than ever when he heard about the detail she shared her tent with another man without being married! Yet alone a man from those detestable Pale Faces!  
Ishizu tried to break the ice by smiling softly and stepping aside slightly to show Seth to him.

"Seth" she said pointing at him, introducing him to the man.

She then turned to Seth.

"Kanyenke" she said pointing the man at Seth as an introduction

Seth watched carefully as the two of them talked. He noticed how cold the man spoke of him. He couldn't understand a word they were saying, but he knew the man was talking about him. He gritted his teeth in anger. He hated to feel so vulnerable like this, but he was still wounded. He couldn't do anything to defend himself. Yet, he saw the way the man looked at him with such suspicion... He felt his blood freeze by the man's gaze. When Ishizu introduced him, a sudden thought crossed his mind: What if this man liked Ishizu? He saw the way he looked at her tenderly at first. Of course, this could be a misunderstanding. He also thought the Chief was her husband, but seeing how she acted near him, like she liked him, it couldn't be. She was not married yet, he supposed, but that couldn't mean she wasn't betrothed. A sudden anger took over him and he stepped forward, finally setting his fear aside. He looked at the man in front of him with disgust. He wanted to show him he wasn't a weak scared dog.

Kanyenke's brows knit together. He noticed the stranger move forward so he instinctively made a move like he was ready to fight however Ishizu got in front of the white man almost protectively, looking at him with knitted eyebrows. He stopped in his tracks. He looked at the white stranger and then to her.

"You led a stranger here? The enemy? You gave him his tent when not married to him! What would Chief Machakw say about this?"

"He already knows!" she answered immediately, "But it is strictly forbidden for warriors to touch a defenseless man unless we're talking about battle. Please Kanyenke, understand this, I could not let him die in the desert. He's the only hope we have. I feel it!"

Kanyenke looked at him over her shoulder (no big deal since he was around double her size) and he looked at the stranger with a look that was like a mix of suspicion, jealousy and also disbelief, like thinking "This guy is supposed to save us all?!"  
He stopped though and looked at her. For the first time since the conversation started his eyes softened at her.

"You must be careful! You never know with those Pale Faces! They all attack from the back! They use weapons with no honor! They won't stop even to women like you!"

"He won't hurt me!" She said and she sounded way too certain. As if she knew it her entire life, "I know he won't!"  
She took a step closer to him.

"Please, Kanyenke...return to the village now...they're expecting you..."  
The large Native American warrior looked at her once more and then stepped forward too and placed a large hand on her petite shoulder.

"Take care of yourself, and I swear to all Spirits that if he dares to raise a hand against you, I'll rip off his heart and feed it to him!"

"He won't... Please..."  
The tall man she introduced as Kanyenke removed his hand from her shoulder, shot the White Man with yet another glare and with ease, as if sitting on a chair, climbed back onto his saddle-less horse and hit it with his heels. He marched towards the village, taking his prey with him as well, the deer upon his horse...

* * *

Seth saw Ishizu arguing with the tall man. He felt his blood boil with rage. How dare this man speak this way? He knew he was the cause of their argument. And when Ishizu defended him, he suddenly felt more confident. Like he had won an imaginary fight. He smirked when the tall man turned and got away. He couldn't explain why, but he was feeling some pride inside him.

" _Yes, go away. You can't do anything to me, you bastard."_  
And in the distance, the same eagle from before was watching the scene. It turned its head curiously at the white man, as if it was find his behavior amusing. Seth hadn't noticed its presence.

Ishizu turned around and saw him and smiled. For some reason he had a strange triumph in his eyes she could not interpret. However seeing him happy somehow made her happy too.  
She smiled softly at him and then lowered her head a little.

"Sorry..." She apologized for Kanyenke, "He...not trusts...I trust..."  
Meaning that he didn't trust him but she did.

Seth looked at her again. He suddenly turned back to his normal arrogant attitude.

"Tsk. Whatever..." He replied in a cold tone and turned away from her.

Ishizu blinked a little. Was he mad at her? Because of the things Kanyenke said? She didn't want her village to be ashamed from such a fight between two strong warriors. Well she knew deep inside that this wasn't the case but still...  
She looked at him for a second and then came after and with him towards the village again and towards her tent.

* * *

As Seth walked to the tent, his thoughts were troubled. A part of him was screaming in anger for letting Ishizu take care of the situation. He wanted to show that man that he wasn't weak. However, another part of him felt relief and pride that she stood for him. He didn't understand why, though. Somewhat he felt victorious that she remained by his side, but why was he feeling like this? It was only natural for her to defend him, after all. She had saved him for an unknown purpose. She wouldn't let him be hurt again. And even though he wanted to show that man that he wasn't weak, he had do admit to himself that, in his condition, he could never win a fight against that guy. So if it weren't for Ishizu, who knows what might have happened. He sighed. Before they entered the tent, he grabbed her wrists lightly, as a way to call her attention and finally gave up on his arrogance for a second.

"Ishizu..."

His throat tightened. He swallowed hard, and tried again.

"Thank you... For protecting me..."  
He gazed into her eyes. For the first time, his eyes were soft, gentle.

When he spoke she turned around really surprised, not for any other reason but for the tone of his voice and his gentle eyes. She couldn't remember any other moment to see him look at her like this, not even when he was drugged from the poppy or when he sought some comfort in her arms.  
He was so more beautiful...handsome like no other man she had seen before. Was it his unique skin or his unique eyes?  
His hands were warm and secure holding her wrists tenderly...(Well...unique at her since she was more used to dark-skinned and dark-eyed men), was it his warm voice that was making her heart race faster...? She didn't know...  
Then she heard him thanking her and then she heard an unknown word to her.

"Protect...?" she voiced the new words, looking skeptical.

She thought what she had done back then and tried to figure it out.

"Protect?" she asked, trying to repeat the move she had done when she stood protectively before him, "Protect...yes...?"

He couldn't help but to blush a little when he saw her making that gesture.

"Y-Yes..." He stammered awkwardly, trying as hard as he could to hide his embarrassment, "Y-Yes... erm... P-protect, yes..." He finally said.

He was feeling so stupid right now, like a young and shy teenager.

Her cheeks also blushed softly as her eyes could not leave his...as if some force was drawing her dark ones into his...

"Protect..." she repeated in a soft voice, catching up from the last of his, "Welcome..." she replied.

She was lost, it was as if time has stopped and only these two existed in the world...she could hear nothing else but his heartbeat...she could see nothing else than his face...she could feel nothing else but his warm hands around her wrists... It was as if they were alone, alone from the world, alone from everything...she was lost...and her heart seemed to be beating in union with his...

For a moment, Seth was also frozen in time. He gazed deeply into her dark blue eyes... She was so beautiful... More beautiful than any other woman he had ever met... For a moment he was deeply lost in the brightness of her eyes. Her eyes had an innocent look that he never saw in any of the women he stayed with. She was sweet and delicate... And yet she was as smart as a fox.  
Her skin was so warm and soft under his hands... He hadn't even noticed that he was getting closer to her until he felt the heat of her body enveloping his. Suddenly his eyes widened in surprise. Their bodies were nearly touching! How the hell did that happen? He was so angry, embarrassed and flustered at the same time. It was like a bomb of feelings just exploded inside of him, making him feel confused and shuffling all of his thoughts.  
He suddenly got way from her and entered the tent, feeling so furious and angry at himself. What was he doing? What the hell was happening to him, anyway?

She felt him coming closer and she felt like she couldn't resist the force. She was a woman who believed in destiny, yes, but she was also a strong and independent one, who only showed respect to men without losing her freedom. However how she found herself unable to resist this force when suddenly...  
The contact was lost and magic died away. She was left alone outside tent with Seth storming inside as if he was burned by hot metal. What on earth happened? Was it something she did? Was it something she said? But she couldn't recall saying anything wrong. She shook it off and entered the tent, having a confused look in her eyes.

* * *

Seth couldn't believe in his own acts.

" _WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH ME, DAMN IT?"_  
He was so furious and frustrated that he felt like he could explode at any moment. He tried to remain calm, however. He covered his face with both of his hands and took a deep breath, trying to put his thoughts in order.

" _What is going on? I... I never lost control like this... I... I am not thinking straight... DAMN! I hate feeling like this!"_

He sat down on the mattress, still with his hands covering his face. He couldn't understand what was going on with him. But he was sure that he hated to feel so confused, so vulnerable like this. He didn't even want to think about the moment he shared with Ishizu just a few minutes ago. He just wanted to vanish from the face of the Earth forever. He then lied down and tried to sleep. Maybe if he slept, these weird, awkward sensations would vanish and he would come back to normal.

She sat beside him. Was he sick? Did he need anything? Fever was coming back?!  
She was ready to touch him to see what was going on but the very last moment her hand stopped midway and pulled back. He didn't like being touched so...perhaps it would be better to leave him be...  
She stood up once more and went to the other corner of the room to start working on her medicine again.

* * *

 **Aaand finally I updated this too! Sorry for the delay, I had to gather the notes together etc!**

 **So...yup! Another sweet chapter and there is a reason I named it "Kanyenke". Yup you guessed it. The first real introduction of our very handsome and strong warrior Kanyenke!**  
 **(The picture exists in _AnaPaulaDBZ_ 's profile on Deviantart)**  
 **(He is the one on the left! )**

 **Also apart from Kanyenke's introduction we get to meet Tanana, the shaman's eagle! You'll see soon what role Tanana plays in our roleplay (and yes her name was inspired by Tanana from Brother Bear )**

 **Not much to say about this chapter (everything is obvious after all! ) except for the fact that Seth for the first time in his life said "thanks" to Ishizu with ALL his heart!**  
 **I personally found it really cute when Seth hid himself behind Ishizu by instinct!**  
 **Kanyenke is jealous! Beware everyone!**

 _Seth McLeach_ \- AnaPaulaDBZ

 _Ishizu_ \- katerinaaqu

 _Kanyenke_ \- katerinaaqu

 _ **Picture from this chapter:**_ _Western YGO Thank you_ **(Please visit AnaPaulaDBZ to her Deviantart profile to see it)**

 **Please do not claim or steal this art/story/plot without OUR permission! Thank you**


	12. Manaa

When he finally got asleep, he didn't find the peace he wanted.  
Instead, he was tormented. Tormented by the memories of his past. He saw everyone he loved die. He saw his once secure world turn into ruins. He saw a lonely child crying and a cruel man giving him a beating, saying that men didn't cry. He remembered that man, that cruel face. It was his father, his damn father. He saw the horrible things he did when he was at his father's gang, the innocent people he was forced to kill, their pleading eyes as their stared at him before they died. Seth saw himself as a 15 year-old teenager with a gun pointed at a young couple. He was hesitating. They didn't deserve to die. What have they done wrong? And then a hoarse voice shouted from behind him.

" _Kill them or I'll pierce your skull with a bullet, kid. You choose. Your life, or theirs."_  
He closed his eyes. He only remembered hearing a shot and a lonely tear escaping from his eyes. And then he only felt pain. He had failed again. He didn't have the courage to kill. He was weak and stupid, the hoarse voice was shouting as he felt the whip burn off his unprotected skin.

And then the dream changed. Suddenly he was face-to-face with his old childhood friend, the sheriff Arthur. The young, pointy-haired man was looking at him with a disappointed look on his face.

" _What are you doing with your life, Seth?"_

" _I'm doing what I think is the best for me. I don't want to suffer anymore."_

" _And you think the best way to do it is isolating yourself from the world? Concealing your feelings?"_

 _Seth laughed._

" _Feelings... Who needs them, anyway? They make us suffer. Happiness? Love? What do these feelings mean in a world dominated by hatred, anger and sorrow? In a world where men kill each other for fun? Tell, me Arthur!"_

 _Arthur sighed._

" _Seth... Listen. I know there are horrible things in the world and that not everyone is good... But isolating yourself? This won't help you. In fact, this could only make your pain worse. Listen to me, my friend... You can't let your past haunt you forever._

 _Seth said in a louder tone:_

" _You don't know how I feel! You haven't lost anyone you loved! You didn't see your world and your life being destroyed with your very own eyes! You didn't see the terrible things I saw, you weren't forced to do horrible things, you didn't feel the pain I felt! How can you know how I feel? I don't need anyone in my life anymore! Why would I need? If I'm going to lose them in a tragic way afterwards? I'm tired of suffering, Arthur, I'm tired of being the world's punching bag! I'm not a stupid, innocent child anymore, I'm a grown man! I know how to take care of myself!" he shouted, angrily, tears almost escaping from his eyes, but he forced himself to not let them fall_

 _Arthur only sighed and shook his head, not believing in the words he just heard._

" _One day, Seth, you will see you are wrong. We all need something to live for. We can't live for ourselves. You will only feel lonely, afraid and insecure if you choose to run away from everything. You must face it!"_

 _Seth turned his back to his friend._

" _I'm sorry, Arthur, but I can't. I'm not going to suffer anymore and the only way to do it is to live by myself, giving up on stupid and meaningless thing such as love and joy. I am a strong man. I don't need anyone else, only myself."_

" _One day, you'll see you are wrong. You'll see..."_

 _You'll see..._

 _You'll see..._

 _And Arthur's voice echoed inside his mind till he woke up._

* * *

Ishizu raised her head from what she was doing to look at him. She could hear him sighing and murmuring in his sleep. Was he having bad dreams again?

Seth woke up panting and soaked in sweat. It was like he could still hear Arthur's words again and again inside his head.

" _What does this mean?"_  
He asked to himself. He remembered the last conversation he had with his old friend, but why was it haunting him now? What did it mean? He put a hand on his forehead, still breathing hard, trying to recover from his nightmare and trying to put his thoughts in order.

Ishizu walked at him and knelt beside him looking concerned.

"You...okay...?" she asked softly

Seth got startled by her presence and he retreated a little. His face suddenly turned a bright shade of red. The memories of his... moment... with Ishizu outside the tent were suddenly coming back to him. The way she looked at him so tenderly, the way her eyes sparkled when looking at him... He remembered her soft, warm skin in his hands, then the heat of her body as he got closer to her...  
And this was the worst part.  
He wasn't on his right mind, he was sure. He didn't know what he was doing. It was like some unknown force was pushing him, drawing him closer to her without him noticing... And then... a feeling, a warm sensation... And a growing desire...  
He tried hard to shake all of these thoughts from his head.

" _Damn! What is wrong with me, after all? What does this woman have that makes me feel so... so tormented like this?"_  
He swallowed hard. That moment he had with her, outside her tent... Only God knows what might have happened if Seth haven't come back to his senses in time. She was... beautiful, unique. And Seth couldn't deny the fact that he found that pretty charming about her, but still... It wasn't time for him to be thinking about getting involved with a woman, let alone a woman whose culture and life were completely different from his. It could never work! How could his body betray him like this? He forced himself not to look in her eyes again. Whatever witchcraft she had cast over him, he wasn't going to fall for that again. He was a lonely bounty hunter; a warrior who didn't need anyone by his side, besides his faithful mare. And he was going to heal and going to leave this woman and her village forever and continue with his lonely life. That's how things were supposed to be. Ever.

" _I'll prove to you, Arthur, that I CAN live by myself. I don't need your stupid advices. I can take care of myself"_  
Seth thought to himself, remembering about his nightmare.

Ishizu was still looking at him concerned. Her concern for his condition seemed to be surpassing her other emotions for now.  
However she couldn't deny that a few hours ago she felt so complete it was terrifying.  
She never found herself shy in front of someone and still when she was with this man she felt so right that it almost scared her. Yes she knew he was unique for her, something she had never seen before but he was getting out of her all this concern and fear.  
In the beginning she thought it was just her will to protect her village by healing the White Warrior that would save them, or the common concern of a person towards a wounded other, however now she wasn't sure anymore.  
She only knew that he seemed like part of her and she was part of his. This was the only way she could explain this bond she felt. However it was also frustrating. She was a woman who wasn't used at hiding her feelings and emotions. She let her feelings flow like a river inside and outside her.  
However this man, such a stranger to her, was like a wall on which the river of her emotions would hit against. It was so frustrating to her. She wanted to express her feelings; her thoughts and he just wouldn't let her. She wished she could speak his language so she could tell him instead of just showing him (even if she was a woman of action in general).  
She looked at him once more and brushed some hair behind her ear. It was as if he was being tormented by dreams. She had bad dreams too sometimes; Horrific nightmares with strange visions for destruction and illness. She always used amulets for it. Perhaps he could use one too. Of course not hers. She knew she had to make it especially for him and put the right chants for it in order for it to work. Yes...perhaps she could do that...  
Knowing he wouldn't talk to her, especially since she saw that face of his, she sighed deeply (as if disappointed she couldn't do more for him) and walked away from him to the other side of the room and she started working with a small piece of wood with her elegant knife. She seemed pretty skilled doing so.

Seth let out a sigh of relief when she walked away from him. He was still feeling confused about what happened between them a few hours ago. He decided to not think of this anymore, or he would just get more confused and irritated with himself. He picked up his pouch and took his small diary and started to do some sketches in it to pass his time and let go of all of his disturbed thoughts and emotions.

Occasionally she would look over her shoulder to notice him working but she would return back to her own work soon after. Sometimes she would mumble something like a song but it was barely noticeable as if she was saying it mentally instead of verbally.

Seth continued to work on his sketches. He was drawing everything he saw in the Indian village so far. It seemed to calm down his thoughts as he focused on the details of the village and the people he saw. He would also add some notes here and there about things he found curious about the Indian culture. And occasionally, out of curiosity he would glance at Ishizu with the corner of his eye. She also seemed busy in her own work. That was good, he thought, and then he continued to work on his sketches, pretending that anything strange happened between him and the beautiful Indian woman a few hours ago.

* * *

While Ishizu was working, suddenly a girly voice was heard from outside and the curtain of the tent opened to reveal a young girl with around the same color of skin with Ishizu with dark hair (they could be either dark brown or black). She had a smiley face and smart eyes.

"Ishizu!" the girl said happily

Ishizu stopped and raises her head from her work.

"Manaa..." she said softly

Seth raised his eyes to the young girl who had just arrived. She seemed energetic. She was older than the young girl from the last time, the one Seth sympathized, but not much older as Ishizu, though, she seemed to be a little younger. He suddenly stopped on his sketches to look at the newcomer.

"I missed ya and came to say hi!" the girl continued  
When she saw him she gasped a little surprised but she didn't seem THAT scared of him like most of people out there.

"Oh, Great Spirits! So it WAS true! You had a man in your tent!"

Ishizu blushed slightly. Her friend always seemed to know her "sensitive matters"

"Manaa! It is not like that! I am healing him! That's all!"

Manaa looked at him placing her hands to her hips. She looked thoughtful.

"What an unusual color of skin! And even more unusual color of eyes! They are...interesting!"  
She turned to Ishizu once more.

"Hey they look like yours! Do you think it is a sign of the Spirits?"

Seth turned his head at the young woman, a little bit surprised and a little bit confused. Wasn't she afraid of him? He felt relief when he found out that not everyone saw him as a monster. However, she was a curious type. She wasn't as quiet as Ishizu or the little girl he met, she was really energetic. He heard her speaking to Ishizu and, of course, he couldn't understand what they were talking about, but he assumed it was about him, of course. The girl seemed to be curious about him, instead of being afraid and he somehow found that to be amusing.

Ishizu blushed slightly once more.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!"

Manaa, though, smirked triumphantly.

"As if! The Great Shaman would say the same thing"

"Please do not involve Master to this!"  
Ishizu then cleared her throat and looked at Seth smiling softly.

"This is...Manaa" she introduced her to him to his language, hoping she got his grammar right this time.

She then turned to her friend and said pointing towards him.

"Seth"

He looked at the young girl, curious. He heard Ishizu introducing him and the girl. For a moment, he felt like letting go of his arrogance for a while and say hello to the newcomer. He was also curious to know more about her, after all.

"Hi, Manaa." He said, offering his hand for her to greet her, a very known gesture for white people

However the girl named Manaa had other plans except from meeting the so famous White Man. She brought her fists to her mouth and shrieked happily and surprised.

"KYAAAA! You mean he's teaching you his language?! How far did you two go?!"

Ishizu cleared her throat.

"It is not like that. He started teaching me! We need to communicate somehow"

"HE insisted?! This is so sweet!"

"Manaa! Please get hold of yourself!" the young Indian girl rolled her eyes at her brunette friend's way of acting

Seth arched his eyebrows in confusion. What on earth was going on through this girl's mind? She had some kind of problem? He kept staring at her, with a confused look on his face as he tried to understand what was going on with her.

Meanwhile the younger Native American girl continued her excited questioning.

"In any case Ishizu! How many has he killed? Is he strong? Was he given Marks?"

"I don't know and I don't think warriors of White People have this kinds of customs"  
Manaa blinked in confusion.

"Huh? And then how do they recognize each other as warriors?"

"I am not sure..."

Seth's confusion was turning into annoyance. What was with this girl, anyway? He was relieved that she wasn't afraid of him, like everyone else in the tribe, sure, but she was a weird girl. He grunted in annoyance and turned around to search for something on his things when suddenly his holsters fell by his side, startling him. His guns were still on it. He took it back carefully and put it back on the middle of his things. He then took a small mirror he had and stared into his own reflection for while.

" _Damn, I look like a mess."_  
He noticed that the hair on his face was growing again and he needed to shave it. But he would do that as soon as the weird girl left the tent. He didn't want her to bother him while he was shaving his face.

The clattering sound drew the attention of the young Indian girl who saw the weapons.

"Whoa! So THESE are the Weapons of Fire White Men use!" she said and her small, tanned hand extended itself as if wanting to touch them

He noticed the girl's move and immediately stood in front of her, with a serious look on his face.

"NO!" He said in an imperative tone, "Don't touch that!"  
He knew she wouldn't understand the worlds, but Ishizu knew them very well.

Manaa for sure didn't understand the words but she understood the move and the tone of his voice and halted still in the second. She seemed surprised and confused. Ishizu too stood up and touched Manaa's shoulder.

"Please stop. It is rude to touch the weapons of a warrior you know that. White Men probably think the same." she said kindly but at the same time rigidly, "You must apologize immediately."

Manaa looked at Seth and lowered her head whispering.

"I'm sorry..."

Ishizu turned her head to Seth.

"She..."sorry" says" she tried to translate it, "She not know..."no touch" not know... Sorry..."

He saw the girl apologizing and nodded, as a way to show he accepted her apology. He then touched his holsters and looked at Ishizu.

"This... Dangerous... This hurts..."  
And then he pointed at his bandages, to show what a revolver could do.

"It did this to me..."  
He looked at Ishizu again, hoping she would explain that to her friend.

Ishizu nodded half-understanding his words and she turned to her friend.

"He says it is dangerous. It is the weapon that wounded him. We don't know of those weapons! What would happen if you hurt yourself?"  
Manaa made an "oh" expression.

"Oh I see..."  
She then turned to him and smiled.

"Well then...thank you."

"She says..."thank you"..." Ishizu said to him in his language slowly and carefully to use the grammar right this time.

However she truly seemed like a fast learner...she already started playing the part of...translator between them.

Seth nodded again, and gave the girl a half-smile. He was relieved that she understood the message.

"It's okay..." He said with a calmer voice now and tried to stand up to greet her again, since the last time she was so excited about seeing him that she ignored him, however, as he stood up, he felt a dizziness and almost fell

Ishizu gasped slightly and she was up in the second to hold him before tripping, as usually her small body being stronger than it looked. Manaa was also slightly worried.

As Ishizu held him, she could feel he was slightly trembling and that his skin seemed hotter than usual. It seemed his fever was coming back. He cursed mentally.

" _Damn, why now?"_  
He also felt a little embarrassed for looking so weak and vulnerable again, even more now, in front of a new visitor.

Worried slightly she supported him carefully. She knew that he hated to show weakness and she noticed that for some reason white men were embarrassed to show their bodies in front of others so she turned to Manaa and said solemnly.

"Manaa, our guest's fever is coming back. Please return to the village and let me treat him! We'll talk again some other time!"

Manaa nodded her head.

"A-Alright..." and waving a last goodbye she left the tent.

Ishizu softly helped him back onto the mattress smiling a maternal smile.

"It's okay..." she whispered in his language and then she added to her own, "...I'll treat you..."

He lay down on the mattress again with her help. He was breathing heavily and sweating. He looked at Ishizu and now the look in his eyes was not the usual proud and fierce look he always had, but now his eyes were looking weak, fragile. It was almost like he was pleading for her help unconsciously, even without him noticing it.

"It's okay..." she whispered again.

She left him for a second and took some crushed herbs. She added water and started boiling them to the lit coals. Meanwhile she wetted a piece of cloth and placed it to his head.

"Fever...good..." she said in meantime, "This...getting good..."  
She said meaning that it was a sign his body was fighting back. Perhaps the fever was strong again but she hoped after he drank the medicine she was now boiling he would recover.

He sighed and unconsciously held her hand again, like in the last time. It was like her presence made him feel better somehow. And again, his survival instincts were stronger than his proud and arrogant personality and he brought her hand close to him, as if he wanted her to stay by him and heal him.

She smiled softly at him and caressed his head as if to reassure him that she wouldn't go anywhere and she then went to the small cup she had close to the fire and removed it from it. She then remembered he didn't like the taste much and remembered some honey she had left in a corner of her tent to treat sore throats. She went to it and added a little to the bitter liquid, letting it melt for a second and then she went to him and brought the cup with the warm liquid to his lips.

He felt more relaxed when she caressed his head, and closed his eyes for a while. When she came closer to him again and brought the cup with the tea to his lips, he lifted his body a little and tried to hold the cup and drank all the tea inside it. He coughed a little and then he lied down again, covering his body with the blanket, since he was feeling cold due to the fever. He held her warm hand again, looking into her eyes.

"Thank you, Ishizu..." He said with a weak voice.

He didn't even seem like the rude man he was when he was sober. He seemed more like a child, asking for their mother's attention when they were sick.

She nodded her head smiling and held onto his hand while her free hand was caressing his forehead that was covered with the wet rug.

"Tomorrow, no fever" she promised softly, "Tomorrow good again..."  
She was holding his hand all the time feeling so happy she could help him...feeling so nice being alone in the tent with him.

He slowly closed his eyes as she caressed him, feeling so comfortable and secure around her... It was like his worries and his fears were slowly fading away when she was around him... He gave her hand a squeeze, as a way to tell her to stay close to him a little more as he was slowly falling asleep.

Smiled once more and removed the cloth from his forehead but leaned down and touched her forehead onto his, to let her feel the cool skin of hers smiling softly.

"Don't worry..." she whispered in her language, "I am not going anywhere...I'm here..."

He felt her warm breath on his face and a warm sensation took over him. He was half-asleep, so he didn't mind at all to feel her so close to him. In fact, her warmth was making him feel so relaxed, so at peace, that he was kind of enjoying it. He caressed her hand and brought her closer to him, wanting to feel more of her warmth around him.

She smiled following his lead and lay her head on the crook of his right shoulder while her left arm wrapped itself over his neck and caressing his left cheek.

As she came closer, he unconsciously wrapped his arms around her as well. Her warmth was taking over him, and he was feeling so relaxed around her... He didn't want her to go, he wanted to feel her next to him. As he was slowly falling asleep, he wasn't aware of his own actions, but somehow feeling her next to him seemed so right... As if she belonged there... And then he finally fell asleep, right next to the woman who saved his life.

She felt him move and bring her closer. Her heart flattered. For some reason it felt so right...so wonderfully right to be there with him! It was as if her heart was half all time long and now she had found the other half that was making her complete.  
She smiled and closed her eyes softly but not to sleep, but to hear the sound of his heartbeat that was strong and steady as a battle drum and at the same time soft. She noticed his breathing had calmed down and she knew that he was asleep.  
She opened her eyes and looked up at his sleeping face... The face that was so close to hers now...she could almost feel his breath against her eyelids and mouth.. It was calming her somehow... His half-naked body against hers was so soft and yet so hard to touch... it was well toned but at the same time his skin was softer than the warriors she was used to (probably because he was covering most of his body with clothes instead of letting his skin roughen by sun and ground). She liked that...she liked it too much...  
The evening was already there and the night coolness had slowly started to rise but she was warm close to his feverish body...so warm...

* * *

 **Goodness! It has been indeed a lot of time since the last time I updated this! Sorry guys for the delay!**

 **Anyway finally we get to see more people and finally Manaa.**  
 **Yes guys you got it right. Manaa is Mana's Western incarnation.** AnaPaulaDBZ **(DA) and I knew that her name sounded "Native American" enough, just like Ishizu's but I suggested to add an "a" to the end to make it more "realistic" so here it is!**

 **Manaa is Ishizu's best friend in the village. She is younger than she is (she is around 14 years old) and she is a very cheerful and happy girl.**

 **Manaa met Seth finally and believe me...this little devil is gonna give those two quite the scare once or twice!**

 **More coming soon! Not much I can say on this!**  
 **Only this: Arthur Young is Yami/Yugi's Western Incarnation. My friend and I discussed this and I will be mainly doing him because of their usual dialogues with Seth McLeach but we still share him so my friend adds here and there catchphrases of his. Here she did him for Seth's dream**

 _Seth McLeach_ \- AnaPaulaDBZ

 _Ishizu_ \- katerinaaqu

 _Manaa_ \- (mainly) katerinaaqu

 _Arthur Young_ (in the dream) - AnaPaulaDBZ

 _ **Please do not claim or steal this art/story/plot without OUR permission! Thank you**_


	13. Friendship, Love and Protection

Seth never had such a peaceful night in his life after his childhood days. He didn't have horrible nightmares about his past or about his terrible father killing him in combat. Instead, he was feeling nothing but peace and tranquility that he never felt again, after his cursed father took him away from the orphanage.  
The fever was gone by the middle of the night and his body was normal again, a sign that he was recovering. His face was looking so peaceful and his chest was going up and down slowly. He was still next to Ishizu, feeling her warmth next to him as he slept peacefully.

The next morning came slowly. Ishizu was no longer next to him but next to him was a small amulet made of wooden twigs and colorful threads along with some feathers.

Seth slowly woke up. He yawned and stretched his body. His hair was a total mess after his sleep, but he didn't fix it, for now. He had a peaceful night's sleep after so many years that he was confused. And then he slowly remembered feeling warmth next to him and he cursed himself aloud this time.

"Damn! What is going on with me?"  
He couldn't believe himself. Ishizu had slept **close** to him! Just what the hell was he doing? Again he did stupid things in his fever. Why did he keep doing stupid thing after stupid thing every time Ishizu was near him? Was it because of his male instincts? It was so long since he had a woman next to him, so maybe his body was missing it? But why now, of all times, damn it! He couldn't let himself to think about such meaningless things now. He needed to focus on getting out of that village and get his revenge on Giovanni once for all. Nothing else mattered right now. Stupid body of his! Why wouldn't it listen to him?  
He then noticed a glimpse of a small amulet next to him. He picked up the amulet and looked at it, confused.

" _What is the meaning of this?_ "

He asked himself as he stared at the small amulet.

By that moment Ishizu stepped into the tent holding two bowls of steaming food and with a small loaf of bread in each one of them and the water flask hanging from her shoulder. She saw him awake and smiled.

"Morning...good…" she said to his language and then saw him checking the amulet.

She came closer and kneeled beside him putting the two bowls next to her.

"It is..." she started in his language but she realized he had never taught her the words 'dream' or 'nightmare', "...bad..."  
She couldn't finish so she made a move with her hand placing both hands under her cheek forming a "pillow" to explain, hoping he would understand.

He looked at her with his typical annoyed face, even more now that he remembered the embarrassing moments of last night... He was feeling so angry at himself again for being unable to resist his stupid urges. He then saw her trying to explain the meaning of the amulet and his brow furrowed.

"It is... Bad... Sleep?" He tried to guess what she was trying to say, but he was still confused.

""Sleep"...?"  
She blinked for a second.

"Sleep?" she asked while doing the "pillow" with her hands as if asking him if that was what 'sleep' meant

He saw her doing the "pillow" again and tried again.

"Hmm... Yes... Huh... Sleep... Like this."  
He lay down on the mattress again and pretended to be sleeping to show her what he meant.

"Sleep" she nodded her head smiling at him, "It is...for...bad sleep..."

"For bad... Sleep?"  
He arched an eyebrow, still confused. He looked at the small amulet again and tried to guess what she was trying to say. He wasn't much of a sleeper, of course, since he was used to sleep in small open camps in the desert, without even having a tent to cover himself and using his own coat as a pillow. But he wasn't a bad sleeper either... He didn't suffer from insomnia... But there was something that was always bothering him on his sleeps... His constant nightmares... Was it what she was trying to say? It was difficult for her to explain abstract terms such as dreams and nightmares and so was for him, but he still tried.

"Bad sleep... You mean... Bad dream? Nightmare?"

He touched his own head to show her that these words were related to his mind. He hoped that could work.

She saw his movement. "Dream" "Nightmare" were two new words for her. She thought for a second and nodded her head.

"Yes...dream...bad dream...nightmare..."

She showed the amulet with her eyes smiling.

"It helps..."

His brow furrowed again. Now he understood what she wanted to say, but it was still odd for him. Why would a small hand-made piece help with his nightmares? He rolled his eyes in disbelief. Of course it was some kind of superstitious belief of her people. From what he knew of Native Americans, he knew that they were very superstitious people who tend to rely on amulets for protection; A lot of bullshit for him. But he would still keep her "present" anyway, since it would be too rude, even for him, to reject it and also because it was an interesting piece.

"Huh... Well... Thanks, I guess..." He answered, a little hesitant.

It was clear by the look on his face that he didn't believe in the amulet's power.

She pointed over the corner she slept at one of these things hanging from the bed. Her amulet was blue with white braids while his was blue and red. She wished she could explain she chose red because he was a warrior but she didn't know that far into the language.

"It works" she said again smiling.

It was another way for her to say, "You're welcome". He had accepted her gift even if he wore this so strange amulet around his neck, the one White People believed in. She felt delighted he accepted her gift. She had spent hours during nighttime to make it because the spells she whispered to send away bad dreams worked better the time dreams themselves appeared. She wanted to make the amulet strong.  
She was smiling. As if the previous night, the night she rested her head on his shoulder and had hugged him comfortingly was daily routine to her. As if it was so right that it was a common thing.

He looked in the direction she was pointing and saw her own amulet. He rolled his eyes in disbelief. Of course he didn't believe that a small amulet would help with his nightmares. Not even God Himself helped. It seemed God liked to torture him, instead. It was only superstition. He grunted in annoyance and put the amulet aside. He then looked at the food she brought.

"I'm hungry." He said to her with his usual arrogant tone.

He hoped that would help to change the subject. He wasn't interested in talking about things he didn't believe in, but he was interested in getting some food and forgetting the embarrassing things he did last night while in his fever.

She smiled and nodded and raised the two bowls she was holding. Inside it had boiled vegetables and meat with chili sauce and of course the bread was made of corn. She offered one to him.

He picked up the bowl and started to eat. As always, the food tasted good. He picked up a piece of the corn bread and ate it. Ishizu was a great cook; he couldn't deny that. He enjoyed eating her food. After he finished, he took a small rug and cleaned himself. He then looked at Ishizu.

"Thank you for the food. It was good." He said, with a sincere look on his eyes

She smiled and offered him the flask. Inside there was no water but some beer made from corn. She brought him this for a change along with the water she had on a second flask.

He took the flask on his hands and took a sip of the beer she had brought. It was something new to him. It was different from anything he had ever drunk and he enjoyed it. He drank it a little more until the flask was empty and gave the flask back to her.

"Thank you. It was good." He thanked her again.

She smiled too. She too was eating with him from the second bowl but she had stopped eating to observe his reaction. She was glad he enjoyed the taste of her beer (cause it was obvious he enjoyed it). The Harvest season was almost over so many women would make beer with the remaining corn and keep it safe. She had got up really early the previous days to make it and let it in a vessel so the beer would be done.

"You're welcome..." she said when he thanked her.

Catching up with his way of saying "welcome" to her. She realized that by the way he talked, she could tell what was the verb and what was the adverb or the subject. She was pleased with herself she could follow at least this much.

He half-smiled for a short moment, but as soon as he noticed, he made his usual annoyed face. But still, he was surprised at how fast she was learning his language; however, he knew it was not enough yet. They still couldn't engage in a full conversation. He noticed how she had some troubles trying to explain the meaning of the amulet she gave him. So he thought it was time for him to teach more of his language if he wanted to understand better the things she wanted to say to him.

"So... Huh... Manaa... Is she your friend?" He tried to start a conversation.

""Friend"...?" she blinked.

A new word for her. She realized he had said her friend's name so it was obvious they weren't siblings so...perhaps he got their bond...

"Friend?" she asked showing her hands joined together, like saying they were together, like friends in a relationship

He saw her gesture and took a minute to get what she was trying to say. He then nodded his head.

"Yes. Friend." He did the same gesture she did.

She smiled, satisfied with herself, partly and also happy that he "praised" her in his way.

"Yes..." she said smiling sweetly, "...she...is...friend"

He tried to continue the conversation.

"Isn't she afraid of White Man?"  
He pointed at himself with both his hands.

"Isn't she afraid of me?"

""Afraid"..."  
She took a moment to think. That phrase had too many unknown words to her "White", "man" "afraid". She made a kind of sweet move as she held her chin in thought and then pointed at him.

"Man?" asked

"Yes. White Man. Me."  
He pointed at himself again. This time he touched his wrist skin at the word "white" to show her it was a word related to his skin tone.

""White"..."  
She thought a little and then saw the skin. Pale skin...white…

"Oh!" she said snapping her fingers as she thought she got it, "White...?" she pointed a white stripe of her dress

He saw her pointing at a white stripe on her dress and he nodded.

"Huh... Yes! White"  
Seth couldn't help to blush a little. Her enthusiasm was kinda... Cute... However, he soon got annoyed at himself and he tried to ignore this stupid thoughts. He focused on his lessons again.

"I am a White Man." He said, pointing at himself again

She smiled.

'"White Man"' she repeated as if to keep the new words inside her head.

Now there was only one word; The word "Afraid". What did that mean? Was it good? Was it bad? She thought this over. If Seth was a "White Man" in other words a Pale Face then her people had only two chances of reaction; fear them and hate them.  
His question was "afraid" for Manaa. It was obvious that Manaa didn't hate him when she saw him and she was certain he had seen through this too. So that only left the second option...

"Manaa...af-afraid not...she..."

She thought it over. How could she say "interested" into his language? She tried to remember some words he used when he mumbled to himself or to his horse and he thought she couldn't listen.

"..she...thinks...interesting...afraid not."

"Oh, I see..."

He let out a small smile, in satisfaction. He liked to see how fast she could learn his language. For sure she was a very intelligent woman. He then decided to continue.

"And Kanyenke? Is he your... Eh... F-friend too?"

He sounded a little nervous when he pronounced the word "friend". Of course he wanted to ask if Kanyenke was more than that to her, like a fiancé, someone she was betrothed to, but he found it would be to hard for her to guess, so if he was something more, she would find a way to tell him. However, he didn't knew why he was so hesitant to ask this particular question... He tried to ignore that.

She nodded.

"Kanyenke...friend...my friend...I guess" she added the last one after she had heard him saying it around a hundred times and she smiled a big smile to him

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Y-you guess...? You mean he is..."  
He swallowed hard. How could he tell her that? He thought about it and then tried.

"You mean he is "more" than that?"

He emphasized the adjective, as a way to tell her it was something bigger than a friend, but he didn't knew it that would work.

"More...?" she blinked.

She half-understood what he meant by that.

" _Is he...hesitating...?! What...?"_

"He...protects Machakw..." she remembered the verb "protect", "He...warrior...he is a warrior..."

"Huh... I see..."

He tried to hide how nervous he was. He saw that she understood the meaning for more, but she didn't interpret it the way he wanted. And he couldn't understand why he was so hesitant! Damn, what was wrong with him? However he still wanted to know... He tried to hide his nervousness by making a serious face.

"Do you... "Love" him...?"

He swallowed hard. Now he had emphasized the word "love" but he wasn't sure if she would get the meaning.

"Hm? "Love"?" she blinked again.

She wasn't sure what this meant. She could tell by the sound of his voice that it was something important. Something that would be difficult...and he seemed even more nervous than before.

'"Love"...what is it...?'

He blushed by her question. How would he explain her that? Suddenly it seemed like a stupid idea to teach her about those things... Well, he was just curious to know if Kanyenke was her fiancé or something, but he was only getting embarrassed and he didn't knew why.

" _Damn, why am I even trying to explain that? I should never have pushed this subject so hard... How foolish of me!"_  
But he couldn't back off now. It would seem too weird if he did so... Like if he wanted to hide something... But of course he wasn't trying to hide anything! So he took a deep breath and tried to make a serious face again as he tried to explain.

"Love is... When you "like" something or someone too much..." He said again, emphasizing the word "like". He wasn't sure if she would get it, though

"Like...?"

She thought about it for a second.

"More from...friends?" she said to get the meaning better, "Love?"

She made a move of hugging herself like meaning being with someone else, but then thought of something else. She took a small twig and designed something to the dirt of the ground; Two people, the one obviously being a woman and the other a man sharing the same tent.

"Love, together?"

He saw her sketch and suddenly felt his cheeks getting warmer.

"Y-Yes... Love is... Together..." He said, awkwardly.

The drawing she did on the ground made him think of his situation on another level... Sharing the same tent with her... He gulped and immediately pushed these stupid thoughts from his mind. He was feeling so stupid and angry with himself for being embarrassed and he tried to ignore it again and said, trying to hide his embarrassment.

"So... Are you and Kanyenke together? Or are you two going to be?"  
He tried as hard as he could to not show how embarrassed he was by this question.

She smiled. Somehow seeing him like this...nervous...it is so sweet! Usually men, warriors she was used to, would be straightforward about their feelings. Spit them out right away or not at all. However Seth was different. He wanted to speak but he was nervous. She somehow found this vulnerable side of his sweet...  
She smiled and shook her head.

"Me no...I not love this..." she said, "He is friend."

* * *

Seth couldn't tell what exactly he was feeling. It was a mix of embarrassment, a strange relief and anger, so much anger at himself because of the previous feelings. There was something wrong with him, he was sure. But it didn't matter, anyway. He knew that he was going to come back to normal after he healed properly and leave that village forever. So she didn't love Kanyenke. Somehow he kind of knew she would say that, because of the way she acted towards him, but still, that sketch of hers of a man and a woman sharing the same tent... Was it the reason she was... "Interested" in him? Well, of course he was something new to her, something she'd never seen before. And he was good-looking too. He had heard many times from women in town how they found him an attractive man. So it wouldn't be unusual to an innocent young woman such as Ishizu to like him, he was even used to that. However, he felt so strange, so vulnerable near her and this was irritating him so much. It must be because she had seen him near death, in his most vulnerable state. She was seeing the weak, fragile Seth because of his severe wounds and maybe, she could have been fantasizing things about him on her head. That could be the only way to explain why he always felt so vulnerable near this woman. But he couldn't deny he also found her very attractive and beautiful... And it had been so long since he had a woman with him and his male instincts were boiling, but it was the wrong time to think about it! Even if he wasn't so focused on his revenge, he could never be with Ishizu. She was from a total different culture, she couldn't even speak his language properly or fully understand him and also, her people also hated him. It could never be. Also, she would probably want to marry him and he tried to avoid this kind of woman as hard as possible. She needed to face reality: he was a White Man, a stranger. She must marry a man from her tribe while he would be forever a lone gunslinger, with a different woman every now and then. So why the thought of Kanyenke and her, being betrothed, bothered him so much?  
He tried to ignore all those stupid thoughts. His expression was now irritated. He was irritated at himself for being nervous and showing that side of him to Ishizu, so he thought it would be better to change the subject. Of course he didn't knew if Ishizu was betrothed to him... It could still be possible, even without her loving him. He had heard it was a common thing among Indian tribes for the girl's father or other male relative to choose who their daughters would marry, but he didn't wanted to touch on the subject again.

" _Forget about it! It doesn't matter, anyway. I don't give a shit about it! I should never have touched this subject, damn it!"_  
Seth then cleared his throat and focused back on his lessons. He had heard her say the name "Machakw" and she also said something about Kanyenke protecting him. Was Machakw the Chief? He wanted to know more about him.

"So... Huh... Machakw is the Chief?"  
He emphasized the word "Chief" as a way to show her that word was important. But then he thought of something more... He grabbed his pouch and picked up his diary and showed her a sketch he made of the Chief.

"Chief..." here was a new word.

She saw his sketch and she was kind of impressed. It was as if the picture would come to life any moment now. She thought about it for a second.

"Chief?" asked trying to mimic the stance Machakw had when sitting on his "throne"

He saw her mimicking the Chief's pose and nodded.

"Yes, Chief." He pointed to his drawing again

She nodded.

"Yes..." she said, "He is the Chief and he is my..."  
But how to explain it? She couldn't say the word "brother" or "mother". She tried to sketch on the ground again, a woman that looked like being with child.

He saw her drawing and tried to guess what she wanted to say. A woman with a child... Of course Machakw couldn't be her son so the only obvious thing was...

"Brother... Is he your brother?"  
He pointed at the blood on his bandages and then pointed at her.

"Same blood?" He asked her, as a way to tell her that brother was a person of the same blood, a relative

Her face brightened with a smile.

"Brother...he's my...brother"

"Ah... I see..."

He paused for a moment. After a minute of silence, he added;

"He... Doesn't trust me, right?"

Her face turned a bit of sad.

"He...trusts not Men...emm...White Men"

"Yes... I understand..." He said, looking down.

He then pointed at himself and said.

"My people... Did much harm to your people..."  
He pointed at her when referring to her people.

"I am truly sorry..." He said, as a way to apologize for his people's crimes towards the Native Americans.

He felt sorry for them. They were also victims of the White Man's evilness, just like himself was a victim from his own people, from his own father for that matter, which only made it worse.

Ishizu's face sweetened with a smile. The warmest smile she had given him so far. Her hand got hold of his tenderly.

"No...you...I trust you..." she said and suddenly she trusted her voice with the sounds of his language, "You...are...not like...White Men...you...protect..." she said in a low voice

Seth felt his heart jump when she held his hand and he felt warmth growing inside his chest. His face suddenly got red as he stared at her and it was like time ceased to exist. Her soft words somehow made his heart beat faster. Protect... What she meant with that?

"Protect... I... Protect? What do you mean...?" He asked her and his voice sounded softer than usual

She smiled to him almost gratefully.

"I see...a dream..." she tried to express what she was thinking with words, "The White Man, the White Warrior on White Horse...protect us..."

Seth arched an eyebrow at her. What was she talking about...? A dream? A vision? He had heard that Native Americans had some type of a "mystical" person", like some type of priest, who claimed that they have mystical powers such as visions from the future and could also heal people. A healer, in other words, but also associated with their religion at the same time. And by what he observed of Ishizu, he knew she was a healer. So of course she would have this "mystical" beliefs. A lot of bullshit for him. So, all this time, the true reason she rescued him... Was because of a dream? A "mystical" vision? He found that funny. He laughed as he let go of her hand.

"A dream... A vision you say? A White Warrior on a White Horse? Hah! That's so funny!"  
He laughed a little more. So, to her, he was some kind of "mystical hero" all this time? How hilarious! That explained everything, why she was so fond of him all of the sudden without even knowing him. So pathetic.

Ishizu pouted her lips. What was it? Has she said something wrong and he was laughing like that? However she realized it; it wasn't HOW she said it... but it was WHAT she said.

"You...trust me not" she said, meaning that he didn't believe her

He stopped laughing and turned serious again. He looked at her.

"Look... I don't mean to offend you, but... I don't believe in those things. I have a different faith."  
He touched the cross on his neck.

"And even my own God seems to have abandoned me. So... Once I'm good again, I will leave. Isn't that what your people want? To see me out of here as soon as possible? It is going to be better this way. You and I... We are different."  
He said that, even though he knew she wouldn't understand everything he said. But somehow, saying this to her was a way to spit out the thoughts that were tormenting him.

* * *

A few words rang to her mind. She heard a torrential of words but could understand only half of them... She understood "good" and "leave". He wanted to go away. Was she that horrible healer? Sure he was feeling like someone completely off in her village but she was trying her best for him. She would protect him with her body if she had to but he seemed really willing to leave...or maybe not...  
She also understood "want" and "people".  
She narrowed her eyes determinedly and got hold of his hand with both hers.

"My people wants..." she said, "I don't..."  
And she added to finish her sentence:

"...my people...need...you..."  
She wanted to say more. She wanted to say the rest of her dream but she couldn't. She still couldn't speak his language well.

He let go of her hand and avoided to look in her eyes.

"I am sorry, but I can't help you. I'm only a man, not some kind of prophecy hero." He told her. His expression was serious

She understood the word "can't". He was just being modest. She looked at him seriously.

"It will be..." she said determinedly like saying that no matter what he said, it would happen. As if she wanted to cheer him up

He heard her words. It seemed she was insisting in that stupid idea.

"No, it won't. I am just a man; I have my own problems as well. I'm not perfect, I can't do miracles! I'm not a hero. I never was..."  
He stopped and his eyes were filled with grief as he remembered the crimes he committed in the past, the innocent people he had to kill because his father forced him. He wasn't a hero. He was also dirty with blood, like other men from his own race. He then tried to let go of his memories and tried to look strong again.

"I will leave and let your people alone. I will follow my own path and should follow yours."

Ishizu looked down. She couldn't understand almost at all but she could tell by the sound of his voice that he was saying no. She could also feel a hint of sadness to his voice. He had a secret...and a tough one he didn't want to talk about...  
She said nothing she only took his hand once more and raised it softly to her lips. She kissed it once and softly and said looking at him to his eyes.

"Get good..." meaning for him to become better and then she left him, taking the two bowls they had their breakfast in, along with the empty flask, leaving behind only the flask with water.

Seth felt his face burning and he felt a strange shiver going down his spine as she held his hand and kissed it so tenderly.  
But then she left the tent, leaving him alone with his confused thoughts and emotions. What did she think he was? A strong, powerful mystical hero who could free her people from White Men's oppression, just like Moses freed his people from slavery? Hah! What a funny joke. And she was infatuated with him because she thought he could "save" her people. She was so sure; he would do some kind of miracle, while in reality, he would not. That's why Seth decided to let go of these foolish emotions, because he didn't wanted to have stupid illusions such as this woman's and get disappointed in the end because they didn't happen. It was stupid and meaningless. She needed to face reality. He wasn't a prince charming from a fairy tale or a prophetic hero like the prophets from Old Testament. He was a man with a lot of problems, a man from a different world than hers and he also had his own problems to deal with.

* * *

 **Goodness! It has been such a long time since the last time I have updated this story. Forgive me people! I was half-working on it and half-forgot it at the same time! But don't worry I have plenty of stuff to post from this**

 **Anyway remember that we left Seth feverish while Ishizu was helping him. Right now Seth wakes up and finds a little present for him.**  
 **The _Dreamcatcher_ is one of the common amulets used to capture the bad dreams. According to Native Americans. Nowadays it is commonly used as decoration and amulet as we hang it over our beds or create jewelry with its shape**  
 **The classical was made of colorful threads and that is what Ishizu made for him because she knows that he suffers from nightmares.**

 **Also more English lessons between them and Ishizu keeps being a fast learner (and Seth likes it no matter what he says! XD )**  
 **And Seth couldn't resist the urge and ask her if she loved Kanyenke! XD  
**

 **And finally Ishizu was able to reveal him the reason she knew where to find him in the first place; because she had a dream that a White Warrior would save her people. Too bad Seth won't believe her just yet...**

 **I hope you liked it!**

 _Seth McLeach_ \- AnaPaulaDBZ

 _Ishizu_ \- katerinaaqu

 **Please do not claim or steal this art/story/plot without OUR permission! Thank you**


	14. Following the Bald Eagle - Blind Master

It was becoming noon and Ishizu hadn't returned yet.

Seth noticed that she hadn't returned found that strange.

" _Have I upset her somehow?"_  
But he instantly shook this thought from his head.

" _Nah! I DON'T CARE if I upset her! She is the one with stupid dreams and visions about prince charming 's rescuing her tribe, I only said the truth! She needs to face reality, damn it, I am NOT the hero of her dreams and all this foolish bullshit! This place is driving me mad, but fortunately, I am going to leave this place forever once I'm better... I just need to hang on for a few more weeks... And then I'll leave and maybe this crazy woman will try to search for her non-existent "prince charming" elsewhere."_  
However, he still felt uncomfortable. Like something was missing... He got used to have her around. What was going on with him? He tried to ignore that as hard as he could.

Some more hours passed but soon, by the middle of the day Ishizu appeared at the entrance of the tent holding a plate with meat and a flask to the other hand. She smiled.

"I am sorry...a man...not good" she said trying to say she was healing someone and that was the reason she was late

In the meanwhile, Seth had taken this moment of solitude to take care of his personal appearance. He didn't want to go back to civilization looking like he just came out of a jungle, after all. He had noticed the hair on his face was growing up again and he took a small mirror and a razor he had on his pouch and started to shave. He was finishing by the time Ishizu came back to the tent. He stopped and looked at her, feeling a strange feeling of...relief? He didn't know and he tried to ignore it, as usual.

"Oh... I see..."  
She was taking care of another man. So that was the reason she took so long to come back. He didn't know why, but he was feeling a little bit troubled by that. Just what the hell was going on with him? It was her duty, wasn't it? And of course he wasn't the only injured man in the world. He tried to ignore that and then looked at the food she brought and felt his stomach rumbling. Maybe some food would help him feeling less awkward. He was indeed hungry, after all.

She smiled and placed the plate next to him and also the alcohol flask she knew he had enjoyed. She smiled and nodded her head. She placed also some corn bread close to him.

He took the meat from the plate and started to eat it. It tasted delicious, as usual. He also took a piece of the corn bread and ate it. After he finished eating, he took the flask with the alcoholic drink and drank it. It was refreshing to have an alcoholic drink after a good meal. He was missing the taste of alcohol, but luckily, Ishizu knew how to make a good drink. He drank all the beer inside the flask and gave it back to her, smiling in satisfaction.

"Thank you again, Ishizu. It was good." He said, softly.

It was the closest he came to compliment her. It was one of the rare times he was being nice to her.

She smiled and nodded her head.

"You're welcome" she said softly.

She liked it seeing him enjoy his food and she enjoyed seeing him happy once in a while with simple things such as food and sun. She softly placed her hand onto his forehead.

"Fever...gone..." she said softly, smiling

He blushed slightly when she touched his forehead, but he tried to ignore the feeling.

"Y-yes... Thank goodness..." He answered her, feeling a little awkward.

He hated to remind the stupid things he did every time he was in fever. But he, also, tried to forget that.

"So... Are we gonna go out today?" He asked, as a way to change the subject

'"Gonna go out"...' she repeated the phrase and searched her memory for the meaning.

She smiled and nodded.

"Out yes, but not much" she replied meaning that he could go out but not for too long so he wouldn't tire himself

"Ah, yes..." He answered, feeling relieved he could go out at least for a moment.

But was still a little upset that he couldn't stay much due to his condition.

"It's all right  
He said as a way to tell her it was all right and tried to get up, but he felt a strong pain hit him on his torso, where the bullet had hit him. It seemed like he still wasn't able to get up by himself. He let out a small curse, in frustration.

Ishizu rushed to his side and helped him up. She showed him the walking stick.

"Need this?" she asked him whether he wanted it or not.

He could walk fine from what she saw but if the pain bothered him too much...

He took the walking stick from her and stood on his own. Maybe he could use it for a while and later he could try walking on his own, but for now, the pain was still bothering him, so he would use it, he concluded.

"Thanks..." He thanked her and walked out of the tent

Ishizu smiled softly behind him when he wasn't looking.

"You're welcome..." she whispered as if to herself and walked outside too.

* * *

It was a nice afternoon since the noon heat was now down and was giving its place to a nice, cool weather.  
Ishizu showed him the way from the back so they would avoid passing through the village and cause more unnecessary glares of hatred onto them and they walked a bit further outside the village.

As they walked, Seth was admiring the landscape around him. The village was located in a beautiful place, he thought to himself. He whistled and Kisara appeared running, her white fur shining in the sunlight, as if the mare was a mythical creature instead of a normal horse. She nuzzled him lovingly and he caressed her big neck softly.

"Glad to see you too, girl." He whispered smoothly to her, with a happy smile on his face

Ishizu smiled. She was glad she came to take care of Kisara's fur before coming here. She also felt lucky the white mere trusted her enough but Ishizu also knew she was always good with animals, especially with horses. She removed a small sack from her shoulder and came closer tapping his shoulder softly to get his attention and showed him the bag.

"For...Kisara..." she said pointing the bag. Obviously it had food for her in it

He picked the bag from Ishizu and started to feed his mare while caressing her with his free hand. He was smiling softly and murmuring quietly to Kisara as she ate the food he was giving her.

"I can't wait to leave this place as soon as possible... This place is driving me mad, I can't keep up with this for much longer..." He whispered to the mare's ear, as a way to blurt out his feelings.

Even though he knew Kisara couldn't answer him, he knew she understood him. Deep down, he could feel it. The two stood there, quietly, as the soft breeze blew softly against them and as the sunlight shone brightly, making Kisara's fur look even more white and defining Seth's muscles and skin, making the man and his horse look almost like they were glowing.

Ishizu smiled softly at the scene but her ears, years now practicing listening to nature and voices around, caught his small confession. Of course she couldn't understand much of what he was saying but she caught certain words such as "leave" and "soon".  
She knew he wanted to leave. She could see it in his eyes. Why though? Had she made him feel uncomfortable? Had she insulted him in any reason? Was her presence THAT unpleasant?

" _I know his destiny is to save us and help us but he doesn't seem to believe that...no, worse...he doesn't even like the idea... Perhaps...perhaps I shouldn't keep him here...if I..if I ask my master for more advice and make his healing faster...? Well I can't but if there is a way...perhaps if he doesn't want to stay...who am I to keep him here...?"_  
She looked away for a second and a soft breeze blew. She brushed some hair behind her ear watching the leaves dance into the sky with this air.

As he was feeding Kisara, he felt that weird sensation again, as if he was being watched... And it wasn't by Ishizu because he knew she was there... He looked up and saw the same odd eagle from before, but now it was perched on a low branch, so he could see it more closely... The eagle was staring at him deeply and he felt a shiver run down his spine. The eagle's eyes were a grayish blue, an odd color for a normal bald eagle. It was as if the bird could see every part of his soul with its weird eyes... It was unsettling to look at them.

" _What is this? Am I hallucinating? This... This can't be real! Am I seriously becoming paranoid because of an eagle?"_  
But then his thoughts were interrupted when the eagle suddenly began to fly on his direction. At first he thought it would collide with him, but then the eagle flapped its wings and flew right above his head. He turned to look at it as it passed by and he saw that the eagle turned its head a little to glance at him and then it screamed before it continued to fly towards the village.

"Master" Ishizu spoke to her language and then got hold of his wrist for a second, "Come. He wants meet you" she said

Seth was confused by her words. Who was this "he"? What was she talking about? It had something to do with the odd eagle? His head was spinning and he couldn't understand anything that was going on.

"Who? Who wants to see me? M-Machakw? Your brother?" he asked as he followed her.

He seemed tense by the idea of meeting her grumpy older brother again.

* * *

Ishizu led him through the village, the small tents till finally they reached a tent, small but different than the others, decorated with several amulets and stuff outside. The eagle was seated upon its top, always gazing at them. Ishizu opened the curtain of the entrance for him and waved him to come closer and come inside.

As he entered the tent, he saw an old man sitting near a small fire lit in the center of the tent, sending smoke through a small hole in the ceiling. The man stood up as soon as he saw his new guests and took his staff and walked towards them. He stood in front of Ishizu and said to their language.

"Ishizu, my dear... I am so happy to see you."

His eyes moved at Seth's direction, who was behind her, looking at the old man with curiosity.

"I see you have brought the White Warrior with you."

Ishizu once she entered the tent she bowed before the old man and kissed his hand. The old man looked like a living dead, he was covered in shawls and amulets and feathers and was only skin and bone, his ears were large but his lobes were long because of the heavy earrings he had.  
Ishizu smiled tenderly to the old man like she was smiling to a grandfather and nodded.

"Master, it is always an honor to be in your tent. Yes, this is the White Warrior from my dreams. I am sure about it. He rides a horse, a female one pure white like the clouds. His eyes are blue like sky. I brought him like you wanted to."  
The tent had a heavy smell of several medical herbs and heavy from smoke. The eagle flew inside and sat upon the old man's shoulder. Ishizu turned to Seth and smiled softly.

"This man..."

It was surprising how fast she learnt to use the word "man".

"name is Howahkau, he is the Healer of us..."  
She didn't know the word "master" or "teacher" but she hoped it was obvious.

"He wants see you..." she extended her arm to him, telling him to come closer

Seth's eyes were fixed on the odd eagle. So the eagle was the old man's pet? It was still odd... But he tried to ignore that. He heard Ishizu introducing him to the old man and he came closer as she requested, but he was still feeling uneasy.

"I see..." the old man said, examining Seth.

The eagle was staring intently at him again.

"I was keeping an eye on him ever since the night you brought him here. Tanana helped me, of course." He said, petting the eagle on his shoulder, "He seems a bit nervous... And uncomfortable. I can understand that. Please sit, I have so much to talk with you."

The old shaman pointed towards some skin carpets on the tent's floor. He sat on one and waited for Ishizu and Seth.

Ishizu smiled at Seth.

"Howahkau says he sees you, always with Tanana"  
She translated what the man said the best she could and when mentioned the name she gestured towards the eagle.

"She...is his eyes..." she explained.

When the old man invited them she smiled and got up from her kneeling position.

"He says come"

and walked to join her master as well as pulling Seth's arm softly, telling him to follow.

Seth raised an eyebrow at the old shaman. The eagle was "his" eyes? Nah... It was some kind of old superstition of their tribe. It was scientifically impossible. But maybe the eagle could help him "see" when it was with him, but not when it was flying away. However, he still felt that same annoying sensation from before coming from that weird animal, but he tried to ignore that. Tanana tilted her head at him.

"He doesn't seem to believe in our traditions, but I already expected that."

The old shaman chuckled, as if finding Seth's reaction funny. He then turned back to Ishizu.

"I have talked to the Great Spirits, Ishizu. There is no mistake, this man really is the White Warrior who is going to save us. He has a strong, fierce heart, a heart of a wolf. But just like a wolf, he is also stubborn, proud and arrogant... And I see his heart is also empty and lonely... I can see the fear and sorrow inside him. He had suffered a lot from a terrible tragedy that happened in his past. He may look tough on the outside, but he only does so he can hide his true feelings, as if he is afraid of them. He may be hurt on the outside, but he has so much more scars on his soul than on his physical body."  
The old man stopped and his blank eyes were fixed on Ishizu, the eagle now was looking at her too.

"The Spirits told me it is your task to heal him, not only on the outside, but on the inside. He has a lot to learn, and you must teach him. You must teach him how to be patient, how to respect people, but most importantly... You have to teach him how to love again. How to love life, people and everything that's around him. Only than, he will be able to let go of his arrogant personality and become a true hero."

Ishizu looked at Seth. She knew she had to translate a few things of what her master had said and explain him some things.

"He says he knows you not trust, emm...believe us"  
She thought of how to use the words properly.

"He says, heart of wolf, strong. He says have a lot learn. He says many wounds."

Seth listened to what Ishizu said, then turned to the old shaman and rolled his eyes. Yes, he had many wounds; **of course** he knew that. That was the only reason he was in that village, in the first place. He would never been there if he wasn't shot.

"Humpf. Of course, I know that." He said, rolling his eyes.

The old man chuckled.

"You have to be patient with this one, dear Ishizu... He reminds me of a young wolf I knew when I was your age and training to be a shaman. I was hunting in the forest when I saw a young wolf severely wounded, lying inside a small cave in the forest. He had lost a fight with his alpha and expelled from his pack. I knew that he would not survive on his state, so I left some deer meat for him to eat, but whenever I came close to him, he would growl at me." He said smiling as he remembered is old days.

He turned his eyes to Seth and Tanana did the same.

"Everyday, I left a piece of meat for the wolf in the cave, but each day, I left it a little closer to the wolf. One day, I was so close to him that I could touch him. He had learned that every time I came, I was bringing food, so he began to trust me. So I finally could touch him and we became friends. I suppose your friend here will be more complicated to deal with than my wolf friend, but I know you can do it. The Spirits have chosen you to this task for a reason, after all."  
He put a hand on her shoulder, smiling kindly at her, like a grandfather would.

Ishizu smiled softly and lowered her head.

"Master...I am afraid I am not playing my role right... He desires to leave...he is not pleased with this place...with me... I...I tried to make him feel comfortable with us...it is just...I..."

She looked down.

"If he really doesn't want to stay...can I really be so egoistic to keep him here despite his will...? I mean, can I really stop him from leaving just because of my dream? I am worried, Master...I worry so much...and I...I would feel like an egoistic person for..."  
She shyly stopped for a second but she had learnt not to hide her emotions like White People did...especially to her master...

"...for wanting him to stay here with us..."

Her master held out her hand and said calmly to her.

"Ishizu, my dear... This man is suffering. Like I said, I saw his soul through Tanana's eyes. His soul is empty and lonely. I saw the sorrow and the fear inside him. He hides his true emotions because he is afraid of them. But he is stubborn; he doesn't want anyone to know about his fears and weaknesses. That's why he is avoiding you, because you are seeing his weaknesses... And he is afraid of his feelings and emotions... He is just like this young wolf I met when I was your age. He wants to be exiled because he was hurt and he doesn't want to be hurt anymore. But if I have left that wolf alone in that cave that day, he would have died of starvation, because he couldn't hunt for himself. And when I tried to help this wolf, he growled and snarled at me. He still saw me as threat to him, even when I was trying to help him. But slowly, with time, he began to trust me, because he knew I was there to bring him food for his survival."

The old shaman stopped for a while. Tanana's eyes were staring deeply into Ishizu now.

"This man sees you as a "threat" to him, and that's why he wants to leave. But you don't have to feel guilty because of it, you're not doing anything wrong, dear... It's just the way this man thinks. He has suffered so much through his life because some terrible tragedy on his past, so he made himself look strong, independent, arrogant and rude on his exterior to protect himself. But the Spirits told me he is still suffering so much and you are the only one who can heal the scars on his soul. That is your task, young one. You must teach him to love life again, to trust other people, but mostly himself. That's the only way to save him from himself, and for him to become a true hero." He said, holding Ishizu's hands tenderly, "You must have patience. Slowly, he will began to trust you, just like my wolf friend. He will "growl" at you first, but when he learns to trust you, he will trust you forever. That is what I learned from that lonely injured wolf inside that cave that day."  
He smiled softly at her.

* * *

Ishizu was breathing in and out slowly and deeply. Her master's words were going straight to her flattering heart. She felt insignificant before this master. She dared to look over her shoulder towards Seth with the corner of her eye and felt her heart flatter even more. She knew what she should do, give him space and at the same time come closer. It sounded complicated enough, to actually do it would be a challenge, however...

"He says...many wounds, hurt...not only here..." she placed her hand softly to his wounded stomach so she wouldn't hurt him, "But also here..."  
Her hand moved up to his chest to the spot his heart was. She rested her hand on his chest for a little. The steady pulse was sending a rhythmic beating into her palm.

"Wound..." she repeated.

She still couldn't speak his language that well to explain to him properly but she knew deep in her heart that this was what her master wanted him to know as well...

Seth's face turned a deep shade of red when she touched his stomach and then his heart. Her hand was soft and warm and it was giving him an awkward sensation to feel her hand right there, so close to his heart... He gulped and he recoiled a little from her. He tried to understand her words... Was she saying the old man was telling her he had many wounds on his heart? Somehow, he felt awkward... It was true, he had many wounds from his past still haunting him, but how could this man possibly know this? He didn't want to look weak, not in front this man, though.

"I don't care. I don't cry about my past anymore, I am strong, I can take care of myself."  
He repeated the "mantra" he always told to Arthur and to any other people he knew. He believed strongly in it, that he didn't need anyone else and that he was fine on his own. The old shaman couldn't understand his words, of course, but by the look on his face, the expression he just made; he could tell exactly what the White Man was talking about. The old shaman shook his head.

"Too stubborn... He thinks he is fine on his own, but he is not. I can see that in his eyes."  
He turned to Ishizu.

"Ishizu, dear, can you tell me if he has been having bad dreams? Tell me everything you find out about him when you were treating him, I want to know."

Ishizu felt like being rejected once more but when she heard her master's voice she turned her head to him.

"Yes. He was whispering and mumbling things in his sleep most of the time. It was as if Dark Spirits are pouring poison into his dreams... He calmed down when I sang the old song my mother taught me to him once or twice and I..."  
She brushed some hair behind her ear.

"I made an amulet for him the other time...I made the chanting properly so it would help him and only him...I haven't seen him sleeping with it to know if it worked yet..."

Howahkau nodded as he listened to Ishizu's words. He turned his face to Seth and through Tanana; he saw Seth's annoyed expression.

"I see... He is tormented by his fears, by his memories... You made an amulet for him? That was a good idea. But if that does not work, you can come to me so I can help you create a stronger one. But I believe you have learned a lot from me, so I think yours will be sufficient, for now. If you have any problem, you can come to me. I think his spiritual wounds will be the most difficult to heal than his physical wounds, but I will help you if you ever need it."  
Tanana looked at Seth again, this time her eyes were fixed on his bandages.

"But, speaking of wounds... how is his physical wounds healing by now?" The old shaman asked

"They are healing. Slowly but steadily. I had to use burning and stitching for his stomach wounds..."

The old shaman suddenly stood up.

"I would like to see them. Can you tell him that?" The old shaman said, as he walked slowly towards Seth's direction.

She turned at him.

"He says wants to see...the wounds..."

Seth let out a sight.

"Ugh... Okay, then... But be quick, please..."

He sighted again. He already felt uncomfortable with Ishizu examining him, but now the old shaman was going to examine him too? He could have expected that, since the old man was also a healer.

" _Well, the faster I recover, the sooner I'll be getting out of here, so I shouldn't complain for now"_  
He started to unwrap his own bandages so she old man could look at them. Also because he didn't want Ishizu doing that in front of him... It would be too awkward. The old shaman kneeled beside him and the eagle peered at his wounds. Just as Ishizu had told him, they were healing slowly, but the one on his stomach was the most severe. He turned to Ishizu.

"I think he needs some of the herbal cream I was preparing this morning. I think it will help to ease his pain a little. Can you help me pick it?"

Ishizu nodded and walked to the side of the tent. She picked a small vase-like thing up and went back, giving it to her master.

The old shaman took the small vase from her and started to apply the medicine on Seth's wounds. As the herbal cream was applied on him, Seth felt a strong, burning pain and he groaned. This herbal cream seemed stronger than the one Ishizu used to apply on him. When the old shaman finished, he turned to Ishizu again.

"The cream I applied on him is stronger. He is in pain now, but soon he will feel better. We should wait until the medicine takes effect so we can wrap some clean bandages around his body again." The old shaman said, picking the small vase with medicine and putting it back on the side of the tent.

Ishizu softly touched his shoulder as if to encourage him.

"He says this stronger, feel pain now, but soon become good..."

The pain he was feeling was strong, so he didn't bother so much when Ishizu touched his shoulder. He looked at her, but he didn't do anything to push her away for now. The old shaman sat back on his place and started to stir in a small pot by the fire. When he finished, he served the tea on a ceramic cup and gave one to Ishizu and the other to Seth. It was some kind of tea made with herbs.

"Tell him to drink it. The hot tea will make him more relaxed and it can help him to forget the pain for a while."

She nodded and took the cup, giving it to him.

"He says drink, make you...better the pain"

Seth took the cup from her and he took a sip from the tea. It was too hot, so he would have to drink it slowly to he wouldn't burn his tongue. And for the first time since he entered the Old Shaman's tent, he let go of his annoyed attitude for a while.

"Hum... Thank you, eh..." he tried to remember the shaman's name, "Howah... Howahkau..."  
The old man stopped drinking and smiled at him. Tanana tilted her head at him, curiously.

'He says..."thank you"' Ishizu explained to her master, even if she was almost certain that he had understood it, after taking a sip from her drink

The old man chuckled.

"At least, he has some manners..."

He took another sip from his drink. Seth was watching the old man carefully as he drank his tea. He was an odd old man... He wondered if this old man also thought he was some kind of "fairytale hero" who would save their tribe from some terrible danger. Maybe he did, because he wasn't treating Seth as threat, like the others did and also, he was kind of a tutor to Ishizu, so it would make sense if he believed in the same things she did. But standing with the two of them like this was kinda making him feel comfortable for some reason... For the first time, someone else than Ishizu was treating him like a guest and not like a desert snake that could attack at any minute.

Ishizu giggled slightly at her master's words and the three of them continue drinking. Occasionally she would take glances of him with the corner of her eye and immediately turn her gaze to her cup.

Seth was watching the two of them as they drank. For some reason, he was feeling peaceful... Maybe it was the tea, which really helped him to relax and forget his pain, or it was because of the silence... He looked around the tent and studied every detail, so he could take some notes on his diary later.

The old shaman finished his drink and put the cup on a small corner of his tent. He turned to Ishizu.

"I think now we can wrap a new set of clean bandages around his body now, the medicine seems to be taking effect. Could you do that for me Ishizu? I will let you do it this time, since I do not think he would like an old man such as myself touching him, hehe" He said, laughing a little as teased his apprentice.

He may be an old man, but he hadn't lost his sense of humor.

Ishizu softly giggled again, this time with a light blush, and grabbed a new set of bandages. She showed them to him.

"Now..." she mentioned it was time to wrap the bandages.

She slowly started wrapping them around his lower torso, his stomach and tummy, carefully.

Seth let out a long sigh as he saw Ishizu holding the bandages.

"Urgh... All right"

He closed his eyes as she started to wrap the bandages around him again, but he could feel his heart thumping as he felt her close to him. When she finished, he opened his eyes again. Now he wasn't feeling so much pain anymore and he was feeling really good. The medicine really worked! He looked at the old shaman and bowed his head to him.

"Thank you very much, Howahkau"

The old shaman nodded at him, in response. Seth also got the impression the eagle did the same.

Ishizu bowed her head to her master.

"Thank you so much, master...I will try to follow your advice..."

" _If anything...even if I fail to persuade him stay, perhaps I can heal the wounds inside him... Perhaps I will be able to give him at least some peace..."_

Howahkau smiled at her and then he looked at Ishizu and Seth. He believed strongly in the Great Spirits and in Ishizu's potential and he knew she would manage to heal this man's soul. He knew the Spirits had a strong motive to unite these two. It was destiny. He took Ishizu's hand once more and said to her.

"Don't forget... Remember the wolf I told you and be patient. If you need any help with him" he turned his face to Seth, "Just come to me. You can bring him too if you feel you need to. My tent is open for him, so he can come anytime. I will do everything to help you both. The Great Spirits are watching over you Ishizu. It is their will for you to help this man; they chose you for some reason. Don't ever forget that..."  
And then the old shaman kissed Ishizu's forehead tenderly, like a grandfather would. He then turned to Seth and said goodbye to him with a gesture.

Ishizu smiled softly and stood up offering her hand to Seth to help him up.

He took her hand so he could stand up, but as he stood so fast, he felt a dizziness and his body inched a little too close to hers as he lost a little of his balance, but then immediately he moved away from her, trying to hide his red face from the old shaman before he could see it and walked out of the tent. The old shaman giggled slightly at the scene.

Ishizu supported him when he nearly fell and looked at him worriedly but she immediately started walking towards the tent's entrance to leave, following Seth outside.

The old shaman smiled as the two left the tent. His eagle nudged her master with her head and he petted her white neck.

"Yes, Tanana... I can see a bright future for those two... The Spirits know what they do..."

* * *

Outside the tent, Seth was feeling so awkward. He couldn't believe he felt embarrassed in front of a BLIND man, of all things... But maybe he had suddenly forgot about it... Never mind! It was an odd meeting... First the odd eagle who was watching him, then the old man talking about things he shouldn't know... Even though he had helped him feel better, it was still weird. But he tried to ignore that. At least, the shaman didn't treat him like a wild animal. He stood in front of Ishizu as she left the shaman's tent and asked her.

"So... We're going back to your tent?" He said, looking at her with both hands on his hips.

He hoped she wasn't going to show him more weird things...

"Hm?"

She hadn't fully understood. There were some new words.

"Tent?" she asked titling her head to the side

He pointed to the shaman's tent behind them.

"Tent"

Ishizu formed an "oh" with her lips.

"Tent, yes, back to tent. Not good?"

No! I am good! Your... Master really helped, I mean... I'm feeling good... No more pain" He said, pointing at his bandages, and then looked back at Ishizu, "So... Can we go see Kisara again?" He asked her.

He was feeling better thanks to Ishizu's master and he didn't want to go back to the tent yet, just to be stuck there doing nothing and with Ishizu near him... He was afraid of what more his treacherous body would come up with after the last fever where she slept near him... He didn't even want to think about it!

Ishizu had a new word "Master". She kind of liked the sound of it. And then noticed his question.

"Hmm...sure but not tired ehm...not become tired, fever back"  
She wanted to tell him not to strain himself or the fever would return.

He frowned, trying to understand her words. She was learning his language fast, but she still had some troubles to make sentences...

"Uh... You mean for me don't become tired?"  
He thought about it for a second. Maybe she meant for him don't strain himself so much. He sighed deeply in annoyance.

"Ok, I promise I won't. At least let me say goodbye to her"

Ishizu looked away for a second touching her forearm. She could tell he was annoyed.

"Sorry..." she whispered, "I, you feel bad..."  
She didn't know how to say "angry" in his language but she was trying her best.

He frowned again, trying to understand what she meant with that... Seeing her like that made his heart clench in a weird way, just like the time he had yelled at her in the cave. Was he feeling guilty? Nah! He shouldn't be feeling that! He shouldn't really care that much... But still, that sensation was very annoying. He took a deep breath and tried to figure out what she was saying.

"You say you make me feel bad, is that it? By bad you mean... Annoyed?" He asked, looking at her, waiting for her answer, feeling that annoying, clenching feeling on his heart

"Annoyed...yes..." she whispered softly, "Sorry...I...annoyed"

He grunted, and turned his back at her so he wouldn't look at her expression and feel even more uncomfortable.

"I just... I don't like feeling useless... Or weak..." He blurted out, and took a deep sight

'"Useless"..."Weak"...'  
She could only guess the meaning behind of those words and she knew they didn't mean something good to him. She approached him from behind and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"That...you are not..." she said in a whisper but at the same time with absolute certainty

When he felt her hand on his shoulder, he instantly turned back to look at her, feeling the blood rush to his cheeks at her words. His heart was pounding inside his chest and his mind was trying to fight all of these awkward sensations inside him. And yet... No one ever said that to him...not that he remembered anyway... He looked into her eyes and he could see she really meant it... But those awkward sensations were growing inside him and he was struggling with himself and this was making him feel so confused that it was driving him mad! He opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, but he didn't know what to say, so he just avoided her gaze and turned back again.

She lowered her hand and her head.

"Go...see Kisara..." she said, realizing he needed some time alone now

* * *

He sighed and started walking without looking back. His head was spinning with his confused and troubled thoughts... Maybe if he spent some more time with his horse, he would calm down. Kisara always made him feel better somehow... He remembered the first time he saw her, when he was still a child, after he was took from the orphanage by his wicked father. He was crying because he wanted to go back and Giovanni had scolded him. He was sitting alone when he saw a wild white foal approaching him, curiously. The wild foal was not afraid of him and Seth remembered when she came closer to sniff him and he stopped crying and caressed the foal's nose. But when the foal heard Giovanni and his group approaching, she ran away. But ever since then, every time Seth was feeling sad and alone, the wild foal would appear to him. She seemed to be the only creature in the world that understood him...

The white mere was in an open space, chewing some grass. However she sensed her master's appearance and raised her beautiful head to look at him. It was as if she could feel his sadness. She half-ran to him and stopped before him, jumping to her back feet once and briefly as if she was telling him to cheer up or asking him what was wrong. She placed her nose to the crook between his neck and shoulder.

He caressed the mare's white neck, smiling softly at her.

"Hey, girl..."

He held her head with both of his hands and touched his forehead with hers and caressed her softly.

"I'm so confused... I hate all of this confusing thoughts and feelings... I don't know what to do, I just want to get out of here so I can run away from all of this confused thoughts inside me..." He whispered to her.

The mare shook her head, as if she was listening and she placed her nose to his chest, as if to reassure him and say he was going to be alright.

She also leaned her head to his shoulder again.

He hugged her neck and stood there for a while, caressing her neck, without saying anything.

The mere understood. Her master was confused but she could also tell that it wasn't all as bad. She could feel one hidden joy inside him for some reason.

* * *

Seth was feeling better now... It seemed his confused thoughts were slowly fading away and he was feeling even more relaxed... He caressed the mare's neck once more and she looked up and saw the Indian woman standing a few feet behind him, looking at both of them. The mare waggled her ears. That woman was the one who had saved her master and was taking care of him. She was very kind and she was taking care of her as well, since her master wasn't in good conditions to take care of her yet... But the mare couldn't understand why her master was so wary of this woman, as if she was a dangerous predator about to attack... She could feel his troubled emotions and she knew he wanted to leave, but why? She couldn't understand human's way of thinking. Kisara was a wild mare before, so she didn't trust much in humans, but she always trusted her master, ever since she was a little wild filly, for some reason... and she felt she could trust this female human too, so why her master didn't trusted her as well?  
Perhaps... Perhaps she could cheer her master up? Perhaps she could help him trust the female human... Kisara suddenly moved away from her master and loped in Ishizu's direction. The mare nudged the woman with her nose and then she turned to her master and neighed happily, as if calling him to join them.

Ishizu smiled at the scene. They seemed so great together, like the forest and the river, like cloud and sky. She realized that her presence was noticed so she smiled softly and giggled when the mere came towards her and playing along she wrapped her caramel-colored arms around the mare's white neck in an embrace, giggling at the tickling breath close to her ear.

Seth raised an eyebrow at the scene. What was happening? He never saw Kisara act this way towards another person... He was feeling frustrated, as if the mare had abandoned him to go play with Ishizu instead. Was it because Ishizu was feeding her and taking care of her, since he couldn't? Well, that was the only logic conclusion. He whistled to call Kisara's attention, but she only turned and whinnied at him.

Ishizu saw him and waved her hand, motioning him to come and join them.

"Come. She says come" she said smiling and she...hopped on Kisara's back sitting on it and holding the mare's white hair.

Her dark skin was in total opposition with the mare's white fur.

"Come!" she repeated smiling

Seth was looking at them, completely baffled. What was that? He saw Ishizu calling him and he felt his cheeks burning in embarrassment again. He didn't know if he should go there with them or if he should stay there. Why was Kisara acting this way? He never saw her acting like that towards anyone before, and then suddenly she was letting this woman MOUNT on her! What on earth? He shyly stood there where he was, feeling confused.

Ishizu slightly tapped the mere with her feet and Kisara galloped towards him and Ishizu led her to make circles around baffled Seth, giggling and laughing as the mere was making happy -or teasing, if someone could use that word- sounds.

He watched the two of them, crossing his arms over his chest, snorting. Was Ishizu making fun of him? She seemed like a child, running in circles with his mare around him, giggling. SO immature, he thought... But still, a part of him was finding it... cute? No, no, no! He instantly shook these foolish thoughts of his mind. It was ridiculous! He stood there, with his arms crossed, grumbling to himself and trying to ignore his treacherous thoughts.

She, on the other hand, giggled and hopped off the white mere, and walked a little closer to him.

"You...too much anger. Not good. Free pain"

He saw her coming closer and listened to her words. He didn't get the last part, though...

"Free pain?" He tilted his head at her.

"Free pain..." she repeated once more with her eyes looking straight in his, "Free...your...pain"

"My... pain?" He asked her, his eyes on hers...

Then he remembered what the old shaman has said about his inner wounds... It was unsettling that an old man who didn't even know him guessed right about his resentments from his past, but maybe it was just a lucky guess. He didn't believed in magic, after all. He just shrugged.

"You can't possibly understand it... My world... No, I mean, the world is cruel. There is only pain and suffering. I know that and you..."

He stopped mid-sentence. He was going to say to her that she should be careful as well, because her tribe could still suffer an attack from remaining confederate soldiers, killing and stealing from them, but then he reminded her strange beliefs about him being some sort of "chosen one" who would save her people from that kind of thing, maybe and he didn't wanted to hear about that again. He shook his head.

"You... Don't worry about me; I'm fine by myself. I always was." He said, instead.

He didn't know if she would understand, but it didn't matter, anyway.

However she shook her head negatively. She had partly understood his words but she knew for sure he was wrong. She knew he was. No matter what, he wasn't fine on his own. He needed someone and that someone happened to be Kisara but she could see it in his eyes that what he feared the most was to be COMPLETELY alone...

"No..." She said in a low voice smiling softly.

She took a step closer and placed her palm to his chest.

"Here, says no. Here wants not be alone. Need someone. Kisara too."

He felt her hand on his chest, and suddenly he felt all of that awkward emotion coming back to torment him again. But his pride was still fighting back. He heard her words... No, she was wrong! He had already lost everything he loved, he didn't need anymore or anyone else... Kisara was enough to him. She was talking just like Arthur! Suddenly he remembered his weird dream about the last conversation he had with his old friend... It didn't mean anything! Maybe it was just his mind playing tricks on him, as usual. He instantly took a steep back and avoided her gaze.

"You're wrong! You don't know anything about me, about my life, anything! You don't know what I've... what I've been through... or what I lost..."  
He said as he held the cross amulet he had on his neck, a present from sister Anna, the nun who was like a mother to him and he could feel his eyes getting wet and a salty taste on his throat, but he refused to let his tears fall. It would be a shame to cry. He was a grown-up man now, he didn't cry anymore.

"Just... leave me, okay? I'll be fine..."  
He turned his back and walked away from her.

"Seth!" she called after him and she realized it was the first time she called out his name like that.

Had she hurt him? She hoped she hadn't but now she wasn't sure anymore. However her instinct was rarely ever wrong and she could feel great loneliness coming from his heart and she knew for sure he didn't like it... She looked at Kisara and petted the white mare's neck.

"Go..." she told her, "Go"  
Telling her to follow her master. She could feel he needed company but she was sure that the company couldn't be her... The thought pained her deep inside but she knew it was true.

* * *

The mare took another look at the young woman before galloping towards her master. She poked him with her nose, and he turned around and hugged her neck, and, for a moment, he finally let his tears fall, soaking the mare's white fur as the memories of his tragic past came back to haunt him again. He couldn't hide those things from Kisara; she always knew when he was feeling bad. She hugged her master with her head as a way to comfort him.  
They stood there in silence for a while, until he finally stopped his tears from falling. He caressed the mare's white fur and whispered.

"I... I don't need anyone else... Just you. I've suffered enough... I'm not going to suffer anymore..."  
He let go of her neck and caressed her forehead. The white mare poked his chest. She knew her master wasn't alright. But he wasn't going to admit it. But what could she do? She couldn't speak human language. Maybe that woman could help him, but he seemed to avoid her! She was sad for her master and she wanted to help him in any way she could, but she was still just a horse. He needed another human companion, she knew it, but he was always avoiding people. She never understood that kind of behavior. A lonely horse was nothing without its herd. It would be easily eaten by predators... It needed the herd's protection and she assumed with humans was the same thing… But her master was different and she wanted to help him, but she didn't know how...

* * *

The sound of another horse was heard and the beautiful dark stallion came a little closer. It looked like black from far away but if someone checked would see it was dark brown. His big eyes checking at the scene while his backside had purple patterns drawn by a careful hand. Mahaado was looking at the beautiful mere and the sad master. He could tell who he was. He could smell his Mistress on him and he knew why he was there. What he didn't know was why the man, while he was clearly suffering, wouldn't let his Mistress close to him, someone who could understand human language and someone who could truly be a match for.  
He could feel the strong connection he had with his Mistress but he knew that like horses need also mares to breed and mares need stallions to keep them company once in a while, humans too needed other humans to talk to. Therefore why wouldn't this man be close to other men? It seemed weird. Was it because of his different clothes and color?

The white mare snorted, as a way to express her sadness as well. Why was her master always avoiding other people? Was he afraid of them? She knew that, from what he told her, he was hurt really badly by his own kind. But that female wasn't a threat. She had saved him and was treating him, but he still avoided her like a horse would avoid a snake. She tried to make him join her while she was playing with the female, but he didn't, even when she had called him. It was weird... Sometimes, she saw her master with some females, and he seemed to enjoy their company for a while. She even assumed they were his mates, but then he would leave them shortly after. But with this specific female it was different. What was the matter? Was it because she was of a different color than him? But she remembered he had stayed with a tanned female before, so maybe it wasn't the case, but it was still so weird...  
She then noticed the presence of the dark brown stallion and she lifted her head a little to look at him. She moved her ears and whinnied. Maybe he could help her figure out something to help her master.

The beautiful and strong male horse noticed her invitation to come. He was interested at this strong and independent mere in many ways. Perhaps she could even become his mate in the future. He could feel her wild spirit coming from her heart. It felt like the perfect match for he too was in the wild before being saved by his Mistress. He was bitten by a snake to his front leg when he was very little. His pack had left him for they could do nothing about him but the Mistress saved him and what was more she had kept his freedom. She never bounded him and he would always return to her.  
He noticed that the beautiful mere was calling for him and he could tell the reason. The master she had, had troubles. Perhaps if he helped him she would look at him too, so he came closer to the spot and raised his ears and snorted a greeting and then the question of what was going on.

Kisara greeted the male with a happy whinny and looked at her Master, who was standing near them. He was looking somewhat surprised by the strong stallion's presence, but he did not seem uncomfortable, just like he was with the female. That was another thing Kisara found weird. He didn't seem to get along with his own species, but he trusted other species? She lowered her head and snorted sadly, as a way to tell the stallion of her sadness of seeing her Master like that...

Mahaado looked at the White Man in deep thought. So this was the man his Mistress had done so much for huh? So...what was with him, he wondered. Why so much loneliness coming from him...? He sniffed at the man's hair. It was the first time he had got THAT close to this man and took in his scent. Hmm...He seemed a nice guy...now what of the rest...? He pushed his nose to the man's chest to see, to feel his heart.

Seth felt the dark horse's nose on his chest and he finally let out a smile and caressed the dark stallion's hair.

"Seems your friend had come along, huh?" He said looking at Kisara and she shook her head.

It was nice to see him smile, at least. She let out a happy whinny at him.

Mahaado snorted in approval as if saying "yup! Here I am". However something bothered him... He had felt less pity and sadness in the horses that were abandoning him half-dead than the one coming out from the chest of this man. For sure he hid a lot and he deep inside wanted to talk to someone but he wouldn't open up for some reason he couldn't understand. He moved further closer allowing the White Man caress him. He seemed trustworthy to say the very least, if not pleasant.

Her Master seemed to be looking better now, Kisara thought on her part, but she knew it was just a momentary happiness... She knew he need another human's companion, but for now, that wasn't much she could do about that, since she had tried to make him join her and the female before, but she failed. But perhaps... The dark stallion could help her now that he was there!  
She poked him with her white nose and started running around him and her Master, happily. She whinnied playfully, as if inviting them to join her.

The dark stallion whinnied pleased. The mere wanted to have fun with him and her master! It was a good step! He too whinnied happily and raised himself to his back, strong legs to show her how strong and capable he can be and at the same time looking at her master as if saying; "alright for now you can join us"

Seth smiled at the two horses. He felt Kisara poking him at his back and turned at her, but she galloped and whinnied, inviting him to chase after her, like when he did when they were young and she was still a curious, wild filly who felt sad for the lonely man cub. She would always try to play with him to cheer him up. But when Seth moved, he felt a strong pain on his torso and he put his hand on his stomach wound, curling his back, in pain.

"I'm sorry girl, I'm not that good yet..." He said, panting and Kisara slowly approached him, worried.

She let out a low whinny, as if to say she was sorry.

Mahaado chased after her in this dance around the White Man when she saw the mere poking him in the stomach and the man moan in pain. Right he was still wounded there. He approached the white mere and poked her with his nose as if to tell her how much he sympathized her and that he supported her.

She acknowledged the strong stallion's presence and felt happy with it. Her Master leaned on her, trying to stand once more and she tried to help him up. Seth managed to stand up again with the mare's help, but he was still with a hand on his stomach, groaning in pain and Kisara was getting worried... Maybe she shouldn't have made him run like this... She forgot how humans were weaker than horses and that he was still wounded. She was feeling guilty. She lowered her ears and snorted, sadly.

Mahaado once more poked her with his nose to tell her "its okay" and started following them slowly towards the village as if he was guarding them from harm.

* * *

Seth was leaning against Kisara for balance, since his pain was strong and he was having troubles to walk on his own. Kisara was helping him as she walked slowly. She wanted to tell him he was going to be alright and the woman would take care of him…

Ishizu was holding a big basket full with several ingredients she needed for making her medicine.

" _Perhaps...I can make him something nice tonight... Master's medicine might be strong and he needs nutrients. I wonder if some soup would be..."_  
She felt a presence and heard a couple of whisperings from her people so she knew that meant only one thing; Seth was coming towards that place. She turned around and gasped seeing him leaning against his horse, accompanied by her own. She ran at his aid immediately.

"Seth! Happened what?" she asked worried, "Feels bad?"

He looked at her, his face writhed in pain. He was with his hand on his stomach.

"Pain..." He said in a weak voice

Her eyes widened for a brief second and wrapped her arm around his shoulders to support him.

"Come!" she said hastily, "Come!"

He leaned on her and followed her, groaning in pain.

"Ishizu... Help me..." He murmured weakly as they walked

"Yes...I help" she reassured him the best she could, and helped him up to her tent and placed him on the mattress.

The two horses were still outside the tent as if waiting what would happen. She started unwrapping the bandage.

Once they were inside the tent, he sat down, groaning as she unwrapped his bandages. His pain was so strong that he didn't even mind to feel Ishizu's hands on him again. Seth closed his eyes and his face writhed in pain. Kisara, on the outside, was worried for her Master and let out a low sad whinny, lowering her head. She hoped her Master would be alright... She trusted the female, and she knew she could help him, but she was still worried.

She unwrapped it carefully and checked the wound. She then took out some more medicine her master had made and started applying it on the wound.

"Shh...it's okay...will be okay..."

The medicine made his wound burn and he groaned again, arching his back and putting his hand on his wound again. He was breathing heavily because of the pain, and he unconsciously put a hand on Ishizu's shoulder to look for her support.

"No..." she whispered taking his hand off the wound, "No touch there..."  
She softly placed her hand over his on her shoulder.

"Okay...soon become...fine..." she whispered to him

"Uuurgh... This.. Hurts... " He groaned again and then he lay on the mattress, panting.

He closed his eyes, and the hand that was once on her shoulder sought for her hand. He unconsciously squeezed her hand, as if he was pleading for her to stay near him, to help him. He just wanted that pain to stop soon

Ishizu quickly applied some painkillers onto the wound and then turned to him giving him a small cup to his lips.

"Drink..." she said to her language, "Helps..." said now in his, "the pain..."

He stood up a little and drank the tea she gave him. He took a deep breath and laid down on the mattress again.

"Thank you, Ishizu..." He whispered, holding her hand again as a way to show his gratefulness

She smiled softly like a mother would do when she sees her child suffering and then raised his hand that was still gripping hers and kissed it softly while caressing his head with the other.

"You're welcome..." she whispered

Seth took a deep breath once again and closed his eyes. He seemed much more relaxed now... He felt a warmth take over him, not only because of the tea she gave him, but also because of her presence. Somehow, it was reassuring to have her around looking after him... It has been years since he had someone looking after him... Her hand caressing him was warm and soft and it was so good to feel it... The pain was slowly fading away and he was feeling so much better now... He squeezed her hand again, as a way to thank her.

She smiled once more, placing also some herbal leaves over the wound applying a light pressure on it. Thankfully the wound hadn't re-opened. Perhaps the pain was more psychological than anything else. Her master's medicine had formed a sort of protecting shield over the patched wound so it hadn't re-opened or infected.  
She leaned forward and kissed each one of his closed eyelids.

"Sleep's demons do not approach" she chanted in her language, "...the fire within these skin isn't calling you...leave the man in peace..."  
It was an old, almost forgotten charm against the nightmares brought by psychological pressure and physical pain. She was hoping he would at least get some sleep in order for the pain to be assisted.

He felt her warmth as she leaned down to kiss his closed eyelids and he felt a chill on his stomach and warmth growing on his chest. Luckily for his arrogant pride, sleep was slowly coming to him, so he didn't minded all of these awkward sensations... His breath calmed down and the grip on her hand loosened as he slowly fell asleep next to her...

Ishizu smiled at the sleeping man and sighs in relief. Luckily the wound wasn't infected or anything. The pain was more psychological than purely physical...  
She let him rest and gathered her things to prepare herself to go to another patient before nightfall...

* * *

 **Oh my goodness! I can't believe it has been almost one year already ever since I posted a chapter of this story! Forgive me people! Mine and my partner's inspiration kinda sleeps for now so we do not do much Yu-Gi-Oh art lately. I mostly deal with** W.I.T.C.H **stuff these days with** YarArts2 (Deviantart) **but fear not. I have a few chapters ready for the Medieval story gal… and MUCH more for this so don't worry there is plenty of material ready till we both start working on the stories again.**  
 **So because I was SO late to update this, I made a "Bonus Chapter" by adding two chapters in one So I release today a double chapter**

 **Anyway this is a belated birthday gift for** Shalialove (Deviantart) **because she has made some pictures based on our idea! Sorry I was late dear**

 **So to remind my readers where the story left from, Seth struggled with nightmares and Ishizu made him an amulet. Certain practices presented in this story are true but much of the way it happens is created by us for the sake of the story. Therefore the amulets or "Dream-Catchers" are actual amulets used back then. Now as for whether they chanted stuff while creating them or not, that is something we do not know. But from the stuff I read about Indians of America, I know they are very spiritual on certain stuff so I added this small detail.**

 **So...more characters to add to the list! Howakhau is Ishizu's old Master and in order to increase the fact that is a shaman, we made him blind and be able to "see" through the eyes of his eagle. The name** "Howahkan" **is real and means** "Mysterious Voice" **we have changed it a little. Native Americans got a new name usually as time passed so it is equally possible that Ishizu's Master has gained this name after becoming a Shaman.**  
 **Aaaand...somehow Ishizu's...official work as an interpreter! She's doing good so far doesn't she?**

 **Well then as for the cast you know the usual**

 _Seth McLeach_ \- AnaPaulaDBZ

 _Isizu_ \- katerinaaqu

 _Howahkau_ \- AnaPaulaDBZ

 _Kisara_ \- katerinaaqu

 _Tanana_ \- AnaPaulaDBZ

 _Mahaado_ \- katerinaaqu **  
**

 ** _Please do not claim or steal this art/story plot without OUR permission! Thank you._**


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